[2012] Basara in Wonderland (Category 2)
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smashconTitle: Basara in Wonderland
Author: Rugiku LINK
Rating: PG
Prompt: “Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” – quote by Josh Billings
Fandom/Series: Sengoku Basara (game/anime)
Word Count: 8391
Disclaimer: I do not own any material above, or any of the characters. Character names copyright to Alice in Wonderland by C. S. Lewis. I do not make any profit either, and only the story line is mine.
Summary: War has broken out in Wonderland between the Ace and Knave of Hearts, and the Cardholder – a human with an unlimited imagination – is destined to save it from its own self-destruction. The White Rabbit was hoping for a hero; he got a naïve tiger cub instead.
Basara in Wonderland
Yukimura awoke with a viscous mind swirling like dango syrup and upon unsticking his eyelids from one another he finally noticed the field of flowers in which he was cocooned for leagues in every direction. Thick wafts of flowery fragrance weighed down the sky that were interspersed by glittering dragonflies that sliced through the summery air like so many jewelled daggers. He did not recall ever making his way to this area of the garden of his new house; neither did he think this sort of place existed anywhere close to the large abode nestled in rolling hills that was his new home.
The sun was bright upon his back and the rustling of cloth alerted Yukimura to the presence of a man grinning rather lazily behind him. Long, chestnut hair – longer than Yukimura’s own – pooled on the ground among the gently bobbing heads of white and pink daisies. The man was clad smartly in an artfully tattered, dark-orange, tweed vest and his white shirtsleeves were rolled to the elbow, exposing lean, tan arms.
He unfolded his crossed legs, shaking out the creases in his dark trousers and offered a white-gloved hand to Yukimura who took it after a moment of deliberation. If it weren’t for the two, elegant, white ears that protruded from the man’s flyaway hair, Yukimura would have thanked him – thinking him to be one of his house’s servants – and left without a backward glance to explore this mysterious part of the garden that he had suddenly found himself in.
“Who are you?” Yukimura asked, staring intently at the silky lapin ears atop the man’s head as he absently brushed off loose petals from his own loose, maroon pants. They couldn’t be real, he thought. After all, why would one need such ears?
The rabbit-eared man pulled out a watch and peered at it. From his vantage point, Yukimura spied six hands all in one direction that read ‘too late’, which was situated between ‘early’, ‘late’, ‘very late’ and ‘tea-time’.
“I’ll tell you once we start walking,” the rabbit-eared man smiled brightly, weaving his arm through Yukimura’s own. “What’s your name?”
Yukimura frowned. All his common sense told him to stop walking immediately and go back the way he came but all the same, “Yukimura Sanada” came out of his mouth.
“Great name, name of an excellent Cardholder.” Yukimura stopped dead. Until he realised his legs were still moving without his consent.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” The rabbit-eared man smiled brilliantly and broke out into a trot, Yukimura’s legs following suit on their own accord. He raised a fist to beat the man with but with a horrible lurch, Yukimura’s legs sank unnaturally deep into a particularly colourful patch of flowers concealing a black pit. All thoughts escaped with his scream as the flowers swallowed him whole.
x--x--x
“…Hey… wake up.” Yukimura groaned and awoke the third time in the same day and his eyes met the strangely-eared man from the flower fields.
“You!” Yukimura shot upright, grabbing the man by a slim, warm ear.
“Ow! Please let go, I’d like to see how you like having your ear pulled.” The man hurriedly reached up and gently disengaged Yukimura’s hand from his now slightly-rumpled auricle.
“It’s real!” Yukimura gasped, staring at the furry ears that angled automatically toward his voice. The man smiled.
“Of course my ears are real, Yukimura,” He reached out to grasp Yukimura’s hand again. “Oh, my name is Keiji Maeda. Nice to meet you.”
Yukimura shook his head, feeling an ache coming on behind his temples. “Where did you take me?”
“Ah, now that’s a good question.” Keiji looked away from Yukimura and the smaller brunet finally realised they were standing upon barren ground shrouded in fog in every direction. The vapour had a faint green tinge that smelt faintly of wet mulch and floated thickly along the ground like ropy strands of seaweed dragging along a sea bed. Yukimura drew close to Keiji; his clothes were already damp with moisture and every breath raggedly filled his lungs.
They began walking into the mist, walking into the gaping white maw with brisk, deliberate steps. Sound was dampened in their tiny little world of swirling vapour and Yukimura fancied that he could see rearing pegasi and rolling waves broiling with serpents in the precipitation. He blinked as a triple-masted galleon sailed past into fogs unknown.
“K-keiji, where are we going?” Yukimura asked with urgency once he turned back.
“Listen to me, Yukimura,” They stopped and Keiji placed his large hands on Yukimura’s thin shoulders. “I brought you into Wonderland because we need your help. It took all of my power to let a human in and now only you are holding the door open to the other side. As long as some part of you remains on this side of the gate, the door to Wonderland will always be open.”
“Wonderland? Is that where we are now? I want to go bac-” Yukimura started before the other slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t say that. Just hear me out, okay? If you help me help the denizens here, I’ll let you go back home. Just don’t say ‘I want to go back home’ until it’s safe to.” Yukimura frowned but nodded mutely and the rabbit-eared man removed his hand.
“Wonderland is the world of desires. It will be real as long as one wishes for something,” They began to move again and Yukimura thought that the impenetrable fog has begun to thin. “Our King and Queen of Hearts have died and now the Ace and Knave contest for the seat of ruler.”
“What are you then, Keiji?” Yukimura asked innocently.
“He’s the White Rabbit: gatekeeper of Wonderland and messenger of the King.” They whirled around to spot a lithe figure shadow away in the fog.
“Reveal yourself!” cried Yukimura and a low chuckle echoed in their space of clarity within the mist.
“I, human, am Sasuke Sarutobi,” Yukimura whirled to meet the voice uncomfortably close and saw a brief flash of glittering, acid-green eyes and auburn hair before the form sifted back into the vapour. “I am the Cheshire Cat of Wonderland.”
“Show yourself then!” Yukimura demanded into the whiteness.
“No need to shout.” A hand tapped his shoulder and he turned yet again to see a thin man wearing dark, newsboy clothes that seemed to flicker with the surroundings and peculiar whisker-like patterns of green on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. A terrifyingly large grin split the Cheshire Cat’s face as the small, green-striped ears atop this man’s head twitched with anticipation. The small brunet was pushed behind the bulk of the White Rabbit as the taller man growled threateningly.
“What business do you have here, Sarutobi?” Keiji snapped. The Cheshire Cat shrugged and played with the black suspenders he wore, smirk still fixed in place.
“I wanted to know who you had brought into Wonderland this time. I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” sniped Keiji and Sasuke levelled the taller man with a poisonous glare and tail that thrashed the air.
“Well, now that I know what kind of Cardholder you’ve brought to this god-forsaken land, I bid you adieu.” He gave a jaunty wave and trotted into the whiteness that – Yukimura was sure now – was lifting by an increasing degree.
“Keiji, why did he say that Wonderland was a ‘god-forsaken place’ if this world is made of wishes? And what’s a ‘Cardholder’?” The other man turned back to his companion and forced a smile though Yukimura could see the tension coiled within him.
“There has been war in Wonderland since the conquest for power began between the Ace and Knave of Hearts. They both want the power to be ruler of Wonderland but neither of them can be killed by the other – they are simply too equally matched. They’ve been having an endless war for many, many years now.” Keiji and Yukimura began walking again and as the fog began to lift, he could see the faint shadows of what appeared to be buildings riddled with mist.
“Ieyasu and Mitsunari have laid waste to this world through their battles so most of Wonderland has fallen into ruin and the people have banished themselves to the outside world – your world. A Cardholder is a human which comes into Wonderland through my gate and they alone can change the fate of Wonderland through letting the denizens out and the power of their desire.” Yukimura nodded slowly. He was beginning to understand Wonderland now, just as the fog was beginning to clear up.
It then became apparent to Yukimura that they had walked into what used to be a quaint village had the houses along the lane they travelled not looked like crumpled paper cartons. The structures tapered inwards around the road, forming an incomplete arch. Yukimura wondered what kind of creatures could reduce a town to a pile of rubble purely by collateral damage.
Keiji dragged Yukimura to an abandoned building with a wall that looked suspiciously like one side had been hacked to pieces with an abnormally sharp sword. “Alright, wait here. I need to look for the Mad Hatter and his friends but their teleporting tea house… well, moves. And it’s dangerous around here so don’t wander anywhere!”
“When will you be back?” Yukimura asked, eyes darting around the gloomy hovel. He’d never been fond of dark places.
“It’ll take me a couple of minutes. Just don’t go anywhere and if you talk to anyone, be smart rather than polite.” And then Keiji bounded off, ears and long hair flapping wildly with his speed.
Yukimura seated himself on a chunk of debris and crossed his arms around himself. He felt something rumple in his pocket and he pulled the object out. It was a photograph of his old home, taken before his family had moved to the country. Yukimura’s eyes grew sad. The narrow townhouse squished between the other narrow townhouses on either side had been small and ugly on the outside with its stained yellow walls, but he had spent his last sixteen years in that house.
Yukimura frowned. The photo was new, taken only a few days ago, but the colours seemed washed out as if he had left the card in the sun for too long. After inspecting the photo a little longer, Yukimura shrugged, thinking the change was due to the light in Wonderland or his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He pushed the photo of his old life back into his pocket and shoved his hands into his armpits for warmth. The fog had dampened his light summer shirt and now he had goose bumps down his bare legs.
The White Rabbit might have said that the Cardholder could change the fate of Wonderland, but what did he have anything to do with this mess? And what did Keiji mean ‘be smart rather than polite’? A queer bubbling-popping noise floated down the empty street and Yukimura curled himself tighter into a ball. Oh, how he wished to be in his world…
“You look like you are a long way from home,” drawled a voice and Yukimura nearly fell off his stone seat.
“Who are you?” He turned to see a rather short man in a thick overcoat covered in soot and dirt with a curiously shaped hat that made him look remarkably bean-like. Next to him was a peculiar machine from which came the blup-blup-blu-pock noise that had made Yukimura wary before. The machine floated unsupported in the air and was made of two glass-like components; the lower contained broiling, yellow liquid the colour of sunshine and the jar above was filled with a bright purple smoke that funnelled into a tube that ended in a long, narrow smoking pipe blackened with age. The man lifted the pipe to his lips and sucked, appraising Yukimura with a cold and calculating look.
“I, human, am the Smoking Caterpillar of Wonderland: Motonari Mori,” announced the man as wisps of purple smoke escaped from his lips with every word. The decimated building filled with a pungent odour of stewed cabbage that made Yukimura wrinkle his nose.
“Would you do me the return favour?” Motonari raised a brow expectantly. Yukimura’s pursed his lips, not realising his discourtesy.
“My name is Yukimura. Pleased to meet you,” he muttered, none too pleased that Keiji was gone. He wondered exactly where the rabbit-eared man had gone.
Motonari drew another breath of violet haze and blew it in Yukimura’s direction. The human sputtered, hand waving frantically to bat away the overpowering stench.
“Will you stop that?” Yukimura coughed.
Motonari raised a brow but blew his next mouthful of smoke to his right.
“Yukimura, do you know why the White Rabbit has brought you to Wonderland?” The Smoking Caterpillar asked in an offhanded fashion as he studied the shapes made in his cloud of now-green haze. It dawned on Yukimura that the thick fog outside had been a mixture of normal fog and this man’s exhaled substances. The length of time this man must have spent wandering the ruined town to fill the place with his machine’s gasses would have been lengthy to say it lightly.
“No… But how long have you been here?” Yukimura asked, attention on the cloud of shifting smoke next to him. Within it he saw a house of cards fall and a tree on a lonely hill of flowers. Motonari cleared his throat and Yukimura turned back with a hasty apology. The Smoking caterpillar gave the human a mollified look before answering the question.
“I’ve been here for a very long time and it is all because of the silly war that the Ace and Knave have been playing at.” Motonari scowled and breathed deeply from his puffing machine. He began pacing the small ruin and Yukimura finally realised why he was called the Smoking Caterpillar: his machine trailed after like the back of the fleshy insect and left a trail of thick steam hanging in the air.
“I have heard so much about the Ace and Knave of Hearts but I do not know what either is like. Why are they fighting only each other and not you or anyone else?” Yukimura cut in.
Motonari blew out another lung-full of smoke. “They don’t fight me or the Cheshire Cat because we are not worth fighting. The only ones left over who even bother fighting with the blasted aristocrats are the Mad Tea Party down the road… or thereabouts.”
“What?”
“Didn’t the White Rabbit tell you? He’s off to find the teleporting tea house. Now if only someone could find that disappearing party and get rid of that accursed Dormouse, maybe the rest of us could escape this stagnant world of wants!” The Caterpillar resumed chewing on his pipe, fuming. “Honestly. I thought he told you to talk smart, not nice.”
Yukimura blinked back tears. This strange man with his putrid contraption and even fouler manner was confusing him and he sorely wished that Keiji were back.
“Words of advice, human,” Yukimura looked sourly at the smoking caterpillar, “do not put your faith in Keiji, he might say that he wants to help the others in Wonderland but in reality he wants to escape and he can only do that if everyone else has left. He is not worthy of your blind trust.”
“I don’t understand,” cried Yukimura. Motonari smirked and returned the black pipe to his lips as Keiji tapped Yukimura’s shoulder.
“Are you ready to go now Yukimura?” Yukimura hurriedly hid his apprehension from Motonari’s words but something must have shown because the smile on his face was replaced with a suspicious look.
“Did the Smoking Caterpillar say something to you?” Yukimura turned only to see the wisps of Motonari’s contraption dissipate into the empty air.
“Did Motonari say that I was only after my own self-interest?” Yukimura looked down guiltily and nodded.
“Ah.”
Yukimura felt Keiji take his hand and they began walking anew in the ruined streets outside.
“You understand that Wonderland is a land of desires. It’s a world where our inner desires can be realised only if we say it aloud,” Yukimura nodded at Keiji’s faraway expression. “This is why I told you to never say ‘I want to go back’ because Wonderland would have granted you that wish and you would have been sent home and woken as if you just had a bad dream. The people of Wonderland can do this as well but there’s a catch: we have to leave Wonderland in order, we have to wish for our own banishment from Wonderland.”
“I expect that Motonari is upset because there is one man who refuses to leave and thus, keeps everyone after him in Wonderland against their will. This man is the Drained Dormouse and right now he is having tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.”
“The… Drained Dormouse?”
“Yeah. Everyone here has a title and their real names, but you don’t need to worry about any of that. Anyway, the order of our banishment from Wonderland was on this huge List in the Castle of Cards but ever since the Ace killed the King, their home was destroyed and is just a pile of rubble now.” They turned a corner and the shattered structures that surrounded them gradually flattened until Keiji and Yukimura were walking on bare, cracked flagstone.
“Typically, the List is a pile of shreds now, thanks to the Knave and his temper tantrums, but essentially I am the last to leave Wonderland as the gatekeeper. Gateway Garden is where you woke up and that’s my land.” Keiji’s laugh echoed pitifully in the cold air. “Thankfully, no one has ripped up my precious Garden.”
How sad it must be to remain stuck in Wonderland forever on the selfish account of one man, Yukimura thought.
Keiji’s hand clenched around Yukimura’s as they stopped. The White Rabbit’s hand dipped into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out his watch. From his vantage point, the hands were still pointed at ‘too late’ though one had moved toward ‘tea time’. Yukimura looked up at the rabbit-eared man who seemed to be waiting for some expected event to happen. It was then that a strange hissing, clanking, groaning noise floated through the fog wisps. A jagged figure appeared in the mist, blurred and dark.
Yukimura drew back in fear. Whatever was approaching was huge, top-heavy and spouted bouts of hot billowing steam from rickety chimneys, and yet Yukimura felt no vibration in the ground that indicated an automobile drawing near. Spindly, wavering legs disturbed the thick vapour and as the contraption loomed, Yukimura could hear the sounds of raucous laughter and the tinkle of expensive china breaking.
He looked up at Keiji in confusion.
“These are the Mad Tea Party?” he asked with incredulity. Yukimura could not see how a group of frivolous party-goers could stand up against the creatures that flattened a castle.
Keiji nodded. “Yeah. Wait until you talk with them. I’ll guarantee you a headache afterwards,”
The rabbit-eared man crowed a greeting and a slice of cake flew their way. Yukimura ducked under a wayward strawberry.
The machine burst out of the mist and Yukimura finally saw a floating galleon that looked remarkably similar to the ships he had been seeing in Motonari’s smoke. Giant threads of broiling smoke kept the vessel floating and the human realised that these were the ‘legs’ he had seen through the fog. The black-painted wood had gilt furnishings along the side in curling rays that reminded Yukimura of a river of gold, and looking up, the starboard railing was at a height that was at least twice Keiji.
The contraption levitated alongside and a worn rope ladder rolled down and landed with a thump in the grey dust at their feet. The craft sighed to a stop and Keiji released Yukimura’s hand and bowed, hands gesturing at the ladder.
“Guests first.”
Yukimura muttered his thanks and grasped the frayed rope with apprehension. The climb up was short and the brunet was greeted with a plate that would have broken his nose had he not ducked in time. The platter spun off into the distance and broke with a faint crash. Someone burst out giggling – presumably the plate-tosser – and Yukimura glared over the oiled balustrade.
The youth clambered over and shuffled to the side, avoiding smears of cream on the deck and waiting for Keiji to climb up, eyeing the two seated at the ship-long table set for twenty.
The cackling one – white-haired, hare-eared, youthful and clothed in a fine, violet naval captain’s jacket, matching breeches and eye-patch – swung black-booted feet onto the wrinkled tablecloth and leered at the newly arrived White Rabbit, straightening his pristine cravat.
The other one was slumped over the messy table with his back to the new arrivals, moaning.
“I-is this it?” Yukimura whispered tentatively at Keiji.
Keiji ignored the question and strode forward, a scowl directed at the other lounging lapin-eared man, inspecting a silver ring dangling from his drooping left ear.
“Where is the Mad Hatter, Motochika?” Keiji crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the other man who nonchalantly brushed imaginary lint off his white, ruffled sleeve.
“Clearly not at the head of the table. Now, what do we owe that pleasure of meeting today, Keiji? You don’t usually bring guests to our abode.” Motochika waved a black-gloved hand and with a sickening jolt, Yukimura felt the boards beneath his feet wail anew and the ship began moving.
“He is none of your concern yet.” Keiji’s eyes narrowed into bronze slits. “Where is Masamune Date?”
The two stayed silent for a few moments before another man – pulling on a blue tailcoat, and sporting a black eye-patch and battered top hat with an odd assortment of objects sticking out of the silk rim – stepped out of what could be presumed to be the galley and stopped in surprise.
“What is this?” Masamune Date growled in heavily accented English.
Yukimura shrank back behind Keiji as silence reigned.
The Dormouse groaned into the stained tablecloth.
Simultaneously, the White Rabbit, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter broke out into heavy laughter. Yukimura stood near the prow of the mast-less ship, exceedingly confused.
Keiji dried his eyes on his sleeve and straightened. “It has been a long time hasn’t it, Motochika!” He offered a hand to the floored Hare and pulled him upright as Masamune slapped the Dormouse on the back to wake him.
“Oi, Kojuro! We have guests so we can’t disappoint.”
The Drained Dormouse muttered a muffled curse into the silk and lifted his head. His gunmetal-grey eyes met with Yukimura’s and the younger felt as if he were fastened to his spot beside the spare plates stacked in a pile.
This is the man who prevents the others in Wonderland from leaving, Yukimura attempted to fix a disapproving look onto his face. But I wonder what his reason is to remain here…
“Hey, kid. D’you want some tea?” Yukimura blinked at the unrefined manner that the gentlemanly dressed Hatter spoke in. And that strange accent…
“Keiji, is this human deaf or can’t he understand English?” The top-hatted man yelled over his shoulder at the Rabbit who was making himself comfortable in a high-backed dinner chair.
Yukimura flushed at the direct jibe. “I can talk! I just cannot comprehend how uncivilised you all are.”
Masamune snorted derisively and bared a scowl full of odd razor-teeth that reminded Yukimura of a shark. “Is this seriously the best you could get, Lady Killer?”
Lady… Killer? Yukimura thought in confusion, oblivious to the insult. His unspoken question must have shown because Keiji waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
“Story for another time, Yukimura. Masamune, do you even know how hard it is nowadays to find a single person with an imagination strong enough to even dream of Wonderland? I could barely nab his mind, let alone one with a bit more experience.” Motochika burst into guffaws at Keiji statement, the latter tossing an empty cup at the March Hare which shattered upon contact with his skull.
“Humans nowadays. No imagination at all.”
Yukimura wondered whether or not to feel insulted or flattered. He was led by the elbow to a comfortable sitting chair next to the Drained Dormouse who had returned to planting his face into the table.
“Is he…?”
“Oh, Kojuro’s like this all the time so don’t feel too offended if he doesn’t talk to you.” Motochika said, as Keiji threw the Hare a confused look.
The Mad Hatter slumped into his seat at the head of the table and hooked a leg over the arm of the chair.
“Wake me up when something interesting happens, Motochika,” he muttered then pulled his battered top hat over his eyes and crossed his arms. His breathing evened out and Yukimura stared at the now-asleep Hatter.
Motochika shook his head.
“Relax. Sometimes we wonder why he’s the Mad Hatter and not the Dormouse.” The March Hare upended a pink teapot, the amber liquid bouncing around the table in golden arcs and into random cups scattered around. “Pass a spoon.”
The Hatter plucked a spoon out of his hat’s blue sash and flung it at the March Hare who caught it deftly and stirred the sugar he dropped in.
“Now, how about you introduce your friend properly?”
Yukimura sipped his spicy tea from a teacup that should have been reserved for a giant instead. The hot liquid was pleasant to the taste and a welcomed drink after the chill of the streets below. Yukimura could understand if the men seated around him had decided to drink tea and share cake in the company of one another for a couple more years.
Keiji forked a slice of cake and took a generous bite. “This is Yukimura Sanada. He’s our new Cardholder. Oh, and delicious cake, Kojuro!”
The Drained Dormouse stirred, silencing Keiji and Motochika, sat up and fixed his cold gaze upon the human next to him. “He’s hardly a Cardholder.”
Yukimura shrank in fear. The animosity this man exuded from his cold eyes and hardened face was blistering, and in his dead eyes was a spark of challenge. Deciding that remaining polite and meek in Wonderland would probably not benefit himself in the long-run Yukimura straightened and fixed a passably stronger look upon his face.
“I may be hardly a Cardholder, even if I do not know what I must do, but I am the only Cardholder you have.” His voice sounded much braver than he felt.
Something in the Dormouse changed at his words. The stone-grey eyes creased into a small sign of amusement and acceptance though Kojuro’s visage remained impassive.
“The kid has guts, Lord Masamune. He might actually pull through this time.” Kojuro angled his head at the Mad Hatter and Yukimura finally saw the round, furry ears near concealed in the man’s neat hair.
So he does have mouse ears!
The Hatter, however, tilted his top hat with a finger, silver eye glittering from under the shadowy depths. “You’ve said that for the last eight Cardholders too. Now look at where we are.”
And uncomfortable silence fell over the group and Yukimura deemed it necessity to bury his burning face into his hot tea.
Motochika tossed a scone at the reclining Hatter’s head that shifted slightly to avoid it in a smooth and practised move. The March Hare blew contemptuously at the anti-social hat maker and clapped his hands.
“Battle plans then!” The empty saucers and pots on the table rattled on the table then shuffling away, around, over, under and in every which-way until they were looking at nine tiny teacups positioned around various stains and blotches that Yukimura finally made out to be a table-sized map with moving pieces as the tableware.
Motochika smirked at Yukimura’s amazed face. “Bet you don’t see anything like this in your world.”
Yukimura nodded in fascination and with a shuddering groan, the teleporting tea house burst out of a wall of green fog and into the bright orange rays of a sunset. Yukimura squinted, waiting for his gloom-adjusted eyes to adapt to the brightness.
“Which of the Ace or Knave do you think is the most screwed up?” Motochika asked Keiji, and Yukimura half-listened, swiping a scone off a platter to his left.
“I think Ieyasu’s pretty bad… poor Mitsunari’s got it tough, but he’s right about everything he insults the Ace with.”
“What does he say about the Ace of Hearts?” Yukimura asked offhandedly.
“Well, the usual drivel. Ieyasu’s a silver-tongued liar and a traitor, both of which he is. And my favourite was the time that Mitsunari screeched that Ieyasu was a knave. That really got me laughing.” The three shared a brief chuckle.
“I think Mitsunari is the worse out of the two,” Kojuro added quietly. He had straightened himself for a cup of tea, no sugar or milk.
“Huh? Really, tell us why.” Keiji smiled over the table.
“He might have his Gentry Vow of ‘thou shall not kill’, but…” Kojuro’s expression grew far away as a cake cutter thrown by Masamune thudded into the closest pastry.
“Why’re you talking about this? Change the subject,” snapped the Mad Hatter. His hand briefly ghosted up to feel the black eye-patch that concealed his right eye.
Following Masamune’s suggestion, the talk turned to strategy which Yukimura quickly grew bored of. He briefly mused on how he had the power to change all of Wonderland as Cardholder. What did a Cardholder do anyway?
Leaving the Rabbit and Hare to pouring over the secret battle map, Yukimura got to his feet and approached the port side railing to admire the sunset. The tea party was levitating along a jagged precipice that made Yukimura dizzy looking down, but away from the base of the cliff were emerald fields of forest scarred by tiny tracks and a huge stripe of torn, brown earth. Even further away was a giant pile of white marble amid tumbled land dotted with red.
“That used to be the Castle of Hearts.” Yukimura jumped as the Mad Hatter sipped some tea from his saucer beside him. He poured a little more tea onto the plate with the teacup. “The castle used to be beautiful.”
Yukimura examined the nostalgic expression upon Masamune’s face before turning back to the landscape.
“You know, I used to hat the people there,” Masamune’s mouth cracked into a sad smile. “The Knave was particularly against my creations.”
“Why?”
“Who knows? Maybe he just didn’t like me.”
They stood side by side in silence for a few more moments.
“Why do you fight against the Ace and Knave? Wouldn’t it be better if you left Wonderland and just left those two to fight it out alone?” Yukimura asked. Masamune sipped more tea.
“I fight because I don’t want to see either of them on the throne. Kojuro decided for himself that he would stay by my side as my guardian until I find myself at the end of my path. Motochika fights with me because he can’t stand not doing anything. And he enjoys Kojuro’s cakes too much.”
Yukimura nodded. Kojuro was staying in Wonderland for this man’s dream. He admitted that perhaps the role that the Dormouse had imposed upon himself was honourable in its own way, but it still seemed a little selfish. Loyal, but inconsiderate.
“I bet Motonari said something to you. Doubt Keiji’s motive? That’s his favourite one.” Yukimura looked over in surprise.
“Really, Motonari wants to stay here. Even though he might say that he hates this place and how much he loathes Kojuro for not stepping out, Smoker is next on the list after the Dormouse.” Masamune let out a quiet laugh. “Then people would really hate him. He’s always been a dislikeable one.”
Yukimura smiled in response. Motonari Mori really did give off a distasteful vibe. Maybe it was his smoking machine.
“Hatter, what happens when you step out?”
Masamune’s remained impassive as he drank his tea. “I don’t know. Keiji says we’ll wake up as we are, but human and over there.”
He drained his cup.
“I don’t really fancy waking up and living a boring life.”
“But if you were over on my side, I could possibly meet you one day and we could trade stories instead,” Yukimura added lightly.
The Hatter frowned. A light wind picked up, ruffling their hair as they were drenched in the dying rays of the sun.
“Yukimura.” The hardly-Cardholder turned to the Hatter, a question in his eyes. “Just remember, life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. You might not hold the best cards right now, but play them right. You might just live.”
Before Yukimura could open his mouth to interrogate the Mad Hatter, Masamune shoved his guest backwards, tea set smashing on the floor. The brunet rolled to a stop on the other side of the moving galleon, several bruises richer.
“We’re being attacked!” Motochika roared, and reached for the silverware.
…Were they going to fight with cutlery?
Yukimura looked up to see the Hatter whipping out six spoons from atop his hat – three in each hand – and lift them as if to defend. Then a force slammed into the side that rocked the ship to near-capsizing point. Yukimura tumbled dangerously along the wooden barrier and felt his leg slip into thin air for a stomach-dropping second.
Yukimura looked back. A white monster with gleaming red eyes and talons groped at the air, finding little purchase in the soft wood of the boat. The Hatter held the creature at bay with six swords – no longer spoons – and Motochika hurled a giant anchor-pike at the white monster. The Drained Dormouse lurched forward, butter knife extending into a long-sword that sent the monster reeling away.
Splinters flew at Yukimura’s face and he raised an arm to shield his eyes, only to open them to see the monster’s ruby eyes fixing themselves on Yukimura and he felt his heart stop.
DIEDIEDIEHUMANDIE
Yukimura balked at the undisguised fury directed at him and felt his body slip as he heard Keiji shout his name. Scrabbling on shattering wood, the Cardholder tumbled off the Mad Hatter’s ship and into the shadow of the mountain.
x--x--x
The world was rocking beneath Yukimura in a steady gait. As his senses returned to him in full, Yukimura felt warm steel beneath his fingers and corded muscle shifting with each step. Cool air gusted around Yukimura’s chilled skin but warmth glowed from the being carrying him on its back. The bitter smell of ash and, strangely, burnt sugar filled his nostrils and his right ankle twinged with every step.
His thoughts floated back and forth over the line of consciousness and, after a while, he fancied himself deceased. Yukimura cracked open an eyelid when his curiosity got the better of him – after all, what did the afterlife look like? His vision was blurred and filled with soft blues and browns. When his sight cleared a little, he thought that the next world looked remarkably like Wonderland with all its glowing jewel-flowers and fluffy fungi the size of an elephant.
Yukimura shifted a little to see what had decided to carry him. He had assumed it to be some sort of fantastical beast but the figure seemed too human-like with its steady two-legged step and pitch-coloured hood drawn up over its head. Yukimura stifled a scream – Death was carrying him away, wasn’t he. The sudden movement alerted the hooded figure to Yukimura’s consciousness and they stopped.
“Oh, are you awake now?” The figure turned and Yukimura steeled himself against the bleached skull and burning eye sockets he had imagined as Death. What he saw instead were golden eyes and strong, handsome features.
…This is what Death looked like?
Below the man’s gentle eyes, tattooed crimson into his tanned cheek was a Heart sliced through the middle with a white scar.
“Are you… the Ace of Hearts?” Yukimura asked after getting over his initial shock and restarting his brain. Ieyasu smiled and turned back to the dirt path they were walking on. Or rather, Ieyasu was walking on and Yukimura was being piggybacked.
“My place is just a little further so you can rest there properly,” the Ace of Hearts said as they neared a copse of azure trees that glowed with arcs of white electricity. Yukimura stared in wonder at the stunning plants that each seemed to contain a storm until Ieyasu stepped into a sky-blue glade filled with swaying, silver grass dotted with stone flowers. Sheltered by a trio of large sapphire laburnums drooping with diamonds was a quaint cottage made of rough wood and honey-coloured stones. A small chimney spouted rings of white smoke and the smell of baking pastry filled Yukimura’s nose.
They made their way around the staring flowers and Ieyasu reached out to swing open the front door. The inside was much like the outside – warm and homely… and very unbefitting of the infamous Ace of Hearts, traitorous king slayer. There was a small table and a large collection of teapots in a cupboard in the large kitchen. A bed of low coals glowed in the fireplace and a stack of small cakes sat near, warming.
Yukimura was gently set down on the small bunk near the rear of the cabin and Ieyasu began bustling around the kitchen, searching for medical supplies and setting out a plate of cakes. The Cardholder’s mouth watered as he was presented with a small plate of square cakes that seemed to cry, ‘eat me!’
“How did you find me?” he asked in curiosity as his eyes roamed the cottage interior. Somehow, Yukimura didn’t see the Ace of Hearts building the structure by hand, nor did he see the table quietly sitting in the middle of the house. He imagined the worn table groaning under the weight of cakes and puffs, surrounded by several pots of tea, and in the odd space where Ieyasu kept a chest was the perfect space for another bed, for another person.
Yukimura saw the Hatter, standing at the sink while quietly washing some dishes as Kojuro snoozed on his bed.
He was sitting in the old home of the Mad Hatter.
Feeling strange, Yukimura put down the unbitten cake in his hands.
“Actually, I saw you fall,” Ieyasu said simply as he gently disengaged Yukimura’s bruised right foot from his sensible leather shoe. He began wrapping the injured flesh in deft strips of linen as he continued.
“I was taking a walk along my border when I saw the tea house get attacked by Mitsunari. I ran closer then I saw you fall and I jumped to catch you before you hit the ground.” Ieyasu frowned at Yukimura’s untouched plate. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
“I am not that hungry, sorry,” Yukimura murmured.
So that monster with the crimson eyes and ancient vehemence was the Knave of Hearts, Mitsunari. Yukimura shivered. Never before had he seen such a wild beast.
“Ah, I see that you have come face to face with Mitsunari’s other,” Ieyasu smiled knowingly and sat on a stool opposite to Yukimura. The Cardholder nodded once and Ieyasu laid a comforting hand on Yukimura’s shoulder.
“He was always against stepping out into the human world. He hates change, you see. So don’t feel too bad about being loathed by him. He just gets a little… excited once the prospect of a good fight appears and his other form comes out. He’s always been a little bloodthirsty,” Ieyasu laughed shortly. “Good thing he has his Gentry Vows, or all of us would be dead and on the other side. The human side, I mean.”
Yukimura frowned. “If you die here, you are sent to my side?”
Ieyasu nodded. “We do. You don’t. You would die like any other normal human. Sorry.”
Yukimura’s face fell as Ieyasu moved away to clean the kitchen. Only a few hours before Yukimura was drinking tea with people who were most likely now dead. He clenched his eyes shut, fighting off the image of the scaly beast that pinned him with such a bloodthirsty look. How could he even entertain the thought that that monster known as the Knave of Hearts wouldn’t kill Masamune and his friends all because of a few simple words?
There was a knock on the door. Yukimura flinched and hurried to lace up his shoes as Ieyasu opened the door with a grace and wariness that was unbefitting of his large stature.
At the door was a knightly man in dress and stance, skin and hair as white as the white, high-necked, long coat he wore over his silver armour. A black sword hung at the man’s side while a very familiar man drooped from spiked gloves by his lapel, spoon-studded top hat still perched precariously on his brown hair.
“What do you think you are doing, Ieyasu?” The knight growled, dropping the unconscious Mad Hatter. “I do not recall you living in this area.”
Yukimura stared in horror and strangely, relief. Masamune was alive at least – torn and unconscious, but still breathing. That probably meant that everyone else was also alive and somewhere close. After all, they wouldn’t just abandon their bad-tempered friend.
Ieyasu stepped out of the doorway, causing the other to step back with disgust. “Well, no one was around so I decided to live here. Any problem, Mitsunari?”
This was the monster that attacked them on the floating galleon? This emerald-eyed man looked nothing like the huge creature with flaming eyes and gaping razor-teeth.
Suddenly, Ieyasu rolled to his right. The Knave seemed to blur a little and then Motochika, Keiji and Kojuro landed in a heap before the front door, weapons embedded in the ground. With a wrench, Keiji yanked out a giant blade from the earth which Yukimura realised was a clockwork sword of burnished brass and clicking gears.
Yukimura rushed to the table. He needed to get out of the house, otherwise Yukimura had a feeling that it would end up like the houses in the fog area… and he’d be under it. But there was only one way out of the cabin and unless he could walk through walls, it was impossible for him to escape.
Yukimura saw a black flash through the window and he ducked behind the table just as the front of the cottage exploded inwards and he was showered with rock, dust and pieces of crockery. He looked up again and saw through what was left of the door; Ieyasu clashing with Mitsunari in a momentary stalemate. Mitsunari blurred again, a light flurry of wind filling the collapsed space and Ieyasu was knocked away with slashed debris. The structure groaned above him and Yukimura withdrew under the table, awaiting his crushing death. He heard the roof cave in with an exhausted whump and for a second, Yukimura couldn’t breathe as if he had been buried in his casket alive, then an excruciating moment later, Sasuke and Yukimura rematerialised outside and away from the battle.
Yukimura gasped air and rolled out of the Cheshire Cat’s tight grip. Sasuke grinned his broad smile and sat on his flickering haunches, green-striped tail lazily waving in the air waiting for Yukimura to regain his breath.
“Y-you… why are you… here?” Yukimura questioned in between gulps of air. Masamune groaned beside him and labouriously sat up.
“The stupid Cat saved our lives. Don’t question him further,” Masamune said through gritted teeth.
Sasuke’s eyes glittered. “I’m just here as a spectator. All I wish for is to see a proper ending to this long play.” With that, he faded into the trees.
Masamune struggled to his feet. “Hatter, wait. You’re too injured to get involved with their fight!” Yukimura reached out, only to be roughly brushed off.
“This is my home, my land. I’ll be damned if I let those aristocrats wreck my garden!” He growled savagely, pulling out another set of spoons that flashed into six swords.
Yukimura sat back, defeated. He was useless, even though he was the Cardholder. There were others before him, but they all hadn’t fixed Wonderland. If they couldn’t, how could he? He didn’t even know where to start.
There was a tumultuous roar and a burst of light, and the monster on the ridge was back. Mitsunari howled his rage when Keiji and Masamune inflicted damage and batted them away with a huge clawed paw. The monster reared up and gaped.
“Lord Masamune!” The Dormouse leaped to protect his charge just as the ruby-eyed monster belched a violent blast of crimson energy. Yukimura dove to the side to avoid the beam and felt several beings slam into him mid-air, knocking the breath out of him.
“Kojuro!” Masamune tossed aside his swords to reach for the injured Dormouse. Together, they took pressure off Kojuro’s injured side and laid him down to recover.
“Lord Masamune, you must keep fighting. Motochika and Keiji cannot stand for long under both Ieyasu and Mitsunari’s attacks,” Kojuro said firmly. Masamune pulled off his tail coat and folded it as a pillow, slotting it gently under Kojuro’s head.
“I’m not letting you give up, Kojuro,” Masamune said resolutely. Kojuro fixed the Hatter with a stern glare.
“You should understand that moving on is not the same as giving up.” The Dormouse’s face cracked slightly, letting a small, content smile show. “I’m sure we will meet again on the other side.”
Yukimura’s eyes welled up with tears. He closed them, feeling them water down his cheeks in small rivulets.
When he opened them, the Drained Dormouse was gone.
The Hatter stood with a furious speed and whirled around to face the enemy. Yukimura looked upon the war before him as if he were looking through a glass – removed and cold. His hand slipped into his pocket and he felt the rough edge of his photograph. Pulling it out, he was surprised to see the photo completely changed; it was no longer a static memory of an old home, it was of a high tea party with many, many curious and peculiar beings among fantastical beasts drinking tea with one another.
The Cardholder smiled to himself. He knew how to play his cards.
“I wish for a happy ending for all of us.” He whispered to the photo and all went dark.
x--x--x
“Hey… Wake up.” Someone shook his shoulder and with bleary eyes and a twinging ankle, Yukimura unstuck his eyelids. The sun was going down in the red-streaked sky and a shadowed figure gently lifted Yukimura.
He felt as if he had fallen into a ditch and knocked his head because strange visions of smoking caterpillars and floating skyships filled his mind.
“Are you alright? You fell into a rabbit hole and bumped your head. Do you hurt anywhere else?” Yukimura turned to his finder and blinked in surprise.
Slim and fine-suited with a silk top hat atop his head was the Mad Hatter.
“Oh, no. I am quite alright, thank you very much.” Yukimura stared in shock at the eye-patched man’s face, who became increasingly uncomfortable the longer the boy kept eye contact. Then a small niggling thought appeared in his mind.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you from somewhere?”
Yukimura smiled and shook his head.
After a short talk, Yukimura found that Masamune Date was their new neighbour a little way down the road, and once he was returned to his family relatively unscathed – aside from a bruised right ankle – they all sat down for tea.
They talked for a long while, then Masamune’s chauffer drove around to pick the man up. Yukimura smiled at the scarred, stony-eyed man who nodded at him from the driver’s seat.
Then in the following weeks, he saw Motochika at the port nearby, the captain of a ship. Sasuke Sarutobi and Motonari Mori were the next he knew of, having escaping Wonderland.
Sasuke spotted Yukimura as he was doing some shopping in town and they chatted as they walked. Sasuke had become part of the circus with his disappearing act (he still had a knack for it even out of Wonderland), while Yukimura’s father had left a card from an ombudsman on the kitchen table, labelled ‘Motonari Mori’. It still stank of smoke.
As the months passed, Yukimura grew ever more worried, having not seen Ieyasu, Mitsunari or Keiji at all. Perhaps they had been revived elsewhere, but the abundance of characters appearing near him had convinced him otherwise.
Then a horrible thought occurred to him. Hadn’t the White Rabbit said that only he was holding the door open? He couldn’t recall seeing the Smoking Caterpillar or the Cheshire Cat leaving Wonderland, but neither did he see Masamune leave either.
His fears were put to rest when one day he saw Ieyasu and Mitsunari walking side by side down a street, conversing casually. Yukimura almost cried out aloud. If those two had managed to leave, it must mean that Keiji was okay.
But as the months turned into a year, Yukimura’s jubilation turned sour.
Then one day:
“I wonder where my red hat went…”
x--x--x
Keiji paced his Garden, revelling in the silence of his world. The Rabbit Hole was closed, the world below gone.
Near the thinning gateway between the human world and Wonderland stood a single, pink-flowered tree, a red hat hanging from a low branch.
Keiji picked the hat from the tree, reminiscing a time when Wonderland used to be a little brighter and full of more people.
“Why is a crow like a cupola, Saica?” Keiji muttered to himself with a smile, thinking of the riddle the Second of Hearts had told him. He knew the riddle was to get rid of him, but just because he enjoyed being around Magoichi Saica didn’t mean it was reciprocated.
He shrugged and stepped away from the tree, giving it one last friendly pat.
Keiji looked at the yawning gap that was the doorway into the sparkling abyss and steeled himself.
It was time he returned that hat.
Please take the time to comment on the fanfic. Thanks.
Author: Rugiku LINK
Rating: PG
Prompt: “Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” – quote by Josh Billings
Fandom/Series: Sengoku Basara (game/anime)
Word Count: 8391
Disclaimer: I do not own any material above, or any of the characters. Character names copyright to Alice in Wonderland by C. S. Lewis. I do not make any profit either, and only the story line is mine.
Summary: War has broken out in Wonderland between the Ace and Knave of Hearts, and the Cardholder – a human with an unlimited imagination – is destined to save it from its own self-destruction. The White Rabbit was hoping for a hero; he got a naïve tiger cub instead.
Basara in Wonderland
Yukimura awoke with a viscous mind swirling like dango syrup and upon unsticking his eyelids from one another he finally noticed the field of flowers in which he was cocooned for leagues in every direction. Thick wafts of flowery fragrance weighed down the sky that were interspersed by glittering dragonflies that sliced through the summery air like so many jewelled daggers. He did not recall ever making his way to this area of the garden of his new house; neither did he think this sort of place existed anywhere close to the large abode nestled in rolling hills that was his new home.
The sun was bright upon his back and the rustling of cloth alerted Yukimura to the presence of a man grinning rather lazily behind him. Long, chestnut hair – longer than Yukimura’s own – pooled on the ground among the gently bobbing heads of white and pink daisies. The man was clad smartly in an artfully tattered, dark-orange, tweed vest and his white shirtsleeves were rolled to the elbow, exposing lean, tan arms.
He unfolded his crossed legs, shaking out the creases in his dark trousers and offered a white-gloved hand to Yukimura who took it after a moment of deliberation. If it weren’t for the two, elegant, white ears that protruded from the man’s flyaway hair, Yukimura would have thanked him – thinking him to be one of his house’s servants – and left without a backward glance to explore this mysterious part of the garden that he had suddenly found himself in.
“Who are you?” Yukimura asked, staring intently at the silky lapin ears atop the man’s head as he absently brushed off loose petals from his own loose, maroon pants. They couldn’t be real, he thought. After all, why would one need such ears?
The rabbit-eared man pulled out a watch and peered at it. From his vantage point, Yukimura spied six hands all in one direction that read ‘too late’, which was situated between ‘early’, ‘late’, ‘very late’ and ‘tea-time’.
“I’ll tell you once we start walking,” the rabbit-eared man smiled brightly, weaving his arm through Yukimura’s own. “What’s your name?”
Yukimura frowned. All his common sense told him to stop walking immediately and go back the way he came but all the same, “Yukimura Sanada” came out of his mouth.
“Great name, name of an excellent Cardholder.” Yukimura stopped dead. Until he realised his legs were still moving without his consent.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” The rabbit-eared man smiled brilliantly and broke out into a trot, Yukimura’s legs following suit on their own accord. He raised a fist to beat the man with but with a horrible lurch, Yukimura’s legs sank unnaturally deep into a particularly colourful patch of flowers concealing a black pit. All thoughts escaped with his scream as the flowers swallowed him whole.
x--x--x
“…Hey… wake up.” Yukimura groaned and awoke the third time in the same day and his eyes met the strangely-eared man from the flower fields.
“You!” Yukimura shot upright, grabbing the man by a slim, warm ear.
“Ow! Please let go, I’d like to see how you like having your ear pulled.” The man hurriedly reached up and gently disengaged Yukimura’s hand from his now slightly-rumpled auricle.
“It’s real!” Yukimura gasped, staring at the furry ears that angled automatically toward his voice. The man smiled.
“Of course my ears are real, Yukimura,” He reached out to grasp Yukimura’s hand again. “Oh, my name is Keiji Maeda. Nice to meet you.”
Yukimura shook his head, feeling an ache coming on behind his temples. “Where did you take me?”
“Ah, now that’s a good question.” Keiji looked away from Yukimura and the smaller brunet finally realised they were standing upon barren ground shrouded in fog in every direction. The vapour had a faint green tinge that smelt faintly of wet mulch and floated thickly along the ground like ropy strands of seaweed dragging along a sea bed. Yukimura drew close to Keiji; his clothes were already damp with moisture and every breath raggedly filled his lungs.
They began walking into the mist, walking into the gaping white maw with brisk, deliberate steps. Sound was dampened in their tiny little world of swirling vapour and Yukimura fancied that he could see rearing pegasi and rolling waves broiling with serpents in the precipitation. He blinked as a triple-masted galleon sailed past into fogs unknown.
“K-keiji, where are we going?” Yukimura asked with urgency once he turned back.
“Listen to me, Yukimura,” They stopped and Keiji placed his large hands on Yukimura’s thin shoulders. “I brought you into Wonderland because we need your help. It took all of my power to let a human in and now only you are holding the door open to the other side. As long as some part of you remains on this side of the gate, the door to Wonderland will always be open.”
“Wonderland? Is that where we are now? I want to go bac-” Yukimura started before the other slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t say that. Just hear me out, okay? If you help me help the denizens here, I’ll let you go back home. Just don’t say ‘I want to go back home’ until it’s safe to.” Yukimura frowned but nodded mutely and the rabbit-eared man removed his hand.
“Wonderland is the world of desires. It will be real as long as one wishes for something,” They began to move again and Yukimura thought that the impenetrable fog has begun to thin. “Our King and Queen of Hearts have died and now the Ace and Knave contest for the seat of ruler.”
“What are you then, Keiji?” Yukimura asked innocently.
“He’s the White Rabbit: gatekeeper of Wonderland and messenger of the King.” They whirled around to spot a lithe figure shadow away in the fog.
“Reveal yourself!” cried Yukimura and a low chuckle echoed in their space of clarity within the mist.
“I, human, am Sasuke Sarutobi,” Yukimura whirled to meet the voice uncomfortably close and saw a brief flash of glittering, acid-green eyes and auburn hair before the form sifted back into the vapour. “I am the Cheshire Cat of Wonderland.”
“Show yourself then!” Yukimura demanded into the whiteness.
“No need to shout.” A hand tapped his shoulder and he turned yet again to see a thin man wearing dark, newsboy clothes that seemed to flicker with the surroundings and peculiar whisker-like patterns of green on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. A terrifyingly large grin split the Cheshire Cat’s face as the small, green-striped ears atop this man’s head twitched with anticipation. The small brunet was pushed behind the bulk of the White Rabbit as the taller man growled threateningly.
“What business do you have here, Sarutobi?” Keiji snapped. The Cheshire Cat shrugged and played with the black suspenders he wore, smirk still fixed in place.
“I wanted to know who you had brought into Wonderland this time. I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” sniped Keiji and Sasuke levelled the taller man with a poisonous glare and tail that thrashed the air.
“Well, now that I know what kind of Cardholder you’ve brought to this god-forsaken land, I bid you adieu.” He gave a jaunty wave and trotted into the whiteness that – Yukimura was sure now – was lifting by an increasing degree.
“Keiji, why did he say that Wonderland was a ‘god-forsaken place’ if this world is made of wishes? And what’s a ‘Cardholder’?” The other man turned back to his companion and forced a smile though Yukimura could see the tension coiled within him.
“There has been war in Wonderland since the conquest for power began between the Ace and Knave of Hearts. They both want the power to be ruler of Wonderland but neither of them can be killed by the other – they are simply too equally matched. They’ve been having an endless war for many, many years now.” Keiji and Yukimura began walking again and as the fog began to lift, he could see the faint shadows of what appeared to be buildings riddled with mist.
“Ieyasu and Mitsunari have laid waste to this world through their battles so most of Wonderland has fallen into ruin and the people have banished themselves to the outside world – your world. A Cardholder is a human which comes into Wonderland through my gate and they alone can change the fate of Wonderland through letting the denizens out and the power of their desire.” Yukimura nodded slowly. He was beginning to understand Wonderland now, just as the fog was beginning to clear up.
It then became apparent to Yukimura that they had walked into what used to be a quaint village had the houses along the lane they travelled not looked like crumpled paper cartons. The structures tapered inwards around the road, forming an incomplete arch. Yukimura wondered what kind of creatures could reduce a town to a pile of rubble purely by collateral damage.
Keiji dragged Yukimura to an abandoned building with a wall that looked suspiciously like one side had been hacked to pieces with an abnormally sharp sword. “Alright, wait here. I need to look for the Mad Hatter and his friends but their teleporting tea house… well, moves. And it’s dangerous around here so don’t wander anywhere!”
“When will you be back?” Yukimura asked, eyes darting around the gloomy hovel. He’d never been fond of dark places.
“It’ll take me a couple of minutes. Just don’t go anywhere and if you talk to anyone, be smart rather than polite.” And then Keiji bounded off, ears and long hair flapping wildly with his speed.
Yukimura seated himself on a chunk of debris and crossed his arms around himself. He felt something rumple in his pocket and he pulled the object out. It was a photograph of his old home, taken before his family had moved to the country. Yukimura’s eyes grew sad. The narrow townhouse squished between the other narrow townhouses on either side had been small and ugly on the outside with its stained yellow walls, but he had spent his last sixteen years in that house.
Yukimura frowned. The photo was new, taken only a few days ago, but the colours seemed washed out as if he had left the card in the sun for too long. After inspecting the photo a little longer, Yukimura shrugged, thinking the change was due to the light in Wonderland or his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He pushed the photo of his old life back into his pocket and shoved his hands into his armpits for warmth. The fog had dampened his light summer shirt and now he had goose bumps down his bare legs.
The White Rabbit might have said that the Cardholder could change the fate of Wonderland, but what did he have anything to do with this mess? And what did Keiji mean ‘be smart rather than polite’? A queer bubbling-popping noise floated down the empty street and Yukimura curled himself tighter into a ball. Oh, how he wished to be in his world…
“You look like you are a long way from home,” drawled a voice and Yukimura nearly fell off his stone seat.
“Who are you?” He turned to see a rather short man in a thick overcoat covered in soot and dirt with a curiously shaped hat that made him look remarkably bean-like. Next to him was a peculiar machine from which came the blup-blup-blu-pock noise that had made Yukimura wary before. The machine floated unsupported in the air and was made of two glass-like components; the lower contained broiling, yellow liquid the colour of sunshine and the jar above was filled with a bright purple smoke that funnelled into a tube that ended in a long, narrow smoking pipe blackened with age. The man lifted the pipe to his lips and sucked, appraising Yukimura with a cold and calculating look.
“I, human, am the Smoking Caterpillar of Wonderland: Motonari Mori,” announced the man as wisps of purple smoke escaped from his lips with every word. The decimated building filled with a pungent odour of stewed cabbage that made Yukimura wrinkle his nose.
“Would you do me the return favour?” Motonari raised a brow expectantly. Yukimura’s pursed his lips, not realising his discourtesy.
“My name is Yukimura. Pleased to meet you,” he muttered, none too pleased that Keiji was gone. He wondered exactly where the rabbit-eared man had gone.
Motonari drew another breath of violet haze and blew it in Yukimura’s direction. The human sputtered, hand waving frantically to bat away the overpowering stench.
“Will you stop that?” Yukimura coughed.
Motonari raised a brow but blew his next mouthful of smoke to his right.
“Yukimura, do you know why the White Rabbit has brought you to Wonderland?” The Smoking Caterpillar asked in an offhanded fashion as he studied the shapes made in his cloud of now-green haze. It dawned on Yukimura that the thick fog outside had been a mixture of normal fog and this man’s exhaled substances. The length of time this man must have spent wandering the ruined town to fill the place with his machine’s gasses would have been lengthy to say it lightly.
“No… But how long have you been here?” Yukimura asked, attention on the cloud of shifting smoke next to him. Within it he saw a house of cards fall and a tree on a lonely hill of flowers. Motonari cleared his throat and Yukimura turned back with a hasty apology. The Smoking caterpillar gave the human a mollified look before answering the question.
“I’ve been here for a very long time and it is all because of the silly war that the Ace and Knave have been playing at.” Motonari scowled and breathed deeply from his puffing machine. He began pacing the small ruin and Yukimura finally realised why he was called the Smoking Caterpillar: his machine trailed after like the back of the fleshy insect and left a trail of thick steam hanging in the air.
“I have heard so much about the Ace and Knave of Hearts but I do not know what either is like. Why are they fighting only each other and not you or anyone else?” Yukimura cut in.
Motonari blew out another lung-full of smoke. “They don’t fight me or the Cheshire Cat because we are not worth fighting. The only ones left over who even bother fighting with the blasted aristocrats are the Mad Tea Party down the road… or thereabouts.”
“What?”
“Didn’t the White Rabbit tell you? He’s off to find the teleporting tea house. Now if only someone could find that disappearing party and get rid of that accursed Dormouse, maybe the rest of us could escape this stagnant world of wants!” The Caterpillar resumed chewing on his pipe, fuming. “Honestly. I thought he told you to talk smart, not nice.”
Yukimura blinked back tears. This strange man with his putrid contraption and even fouler manner was confusing him and he sorely wished that Keiji were back.
“Words of advice, human,” Yukimura looked sourly at the smoking caterpillar, “do not put your faith in Keiji, he might say that he wants to help the others in Wonderland but in reality he wants to escape and he can only do that if everyone else has left. He is not worthy of your blind trust.”
“I don’t understand,” cried Yukimura. Motonari smirked and returned the black pipe to his lips as Keiji tapped Yukimura’s shoulder.
“Are you ready to go now Yukimura?” Yukimura hurriedly hid his apprehension from Motonari’s words but something must have shown because the smile on his face was replaced with a suspicious look.
“Did the Smoking Caterpillar say something to you?” Yukimura turned only to see the wisps of Motonari’s contraption dissipate into the empty air.
“Did Motonari say that I was only after my own self-interest?” Yukimura looked down guiltily and nodded.
“Ah.”
Yukimura felt Keiji take his hand and they began walking anew in the ruined streets outside.
“You understand that Wonderland is a land of desires. It’s a world where our inner desires can be realised only if we say it aloud,” Yukimura nodded at Keiji’s faraway expression. “This is why I told you to never say ‘I want to go back’ because Wonderland would have granted you that wish and you would have been sent home and woken as if you just had a bad dream. The people of Wonderland can do this as well but there’s a catch: we have to leave Wonderland in order, we have to wish for our own banishment from Wonderland.”
“I expect that Motonari is upset because there is one man who refuses to leave and thus, keeps everyone after him in Wonderland against their will. This man is the Drained Dormouse and right now he is having tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.”
“The… Drained Dormouse?”
“Yeah. Everyone here has a title and their real names, but you don’t need to worry about any of that. Anyway, the order of our banishment from Wonderland was on this huge List in the Castle of Cards but ever since the Ace killed the King, their home was destroyed and is just a pile of rubble now.” They turned a corner and the shattered structures that surrounded them gradually flattened until Keiji and Yukimura were walking on bare, cracked flagstone.
“Typically, the List is a pile of shreds now, thanks to the Knave and his temper tantrums, but essentially I am the last to leave Wonderland as the gatekeeper. Gateway Garden is where you woke up and that’s my land.” Keiji’s laugh echoed pitifully in the cold air. “Thankfully, no one has ripped up my precious Garden.”
How sad it must be to remain stuck in Wonderland forever on the selfish account of one man, Yukimura thought.
Keiji’s hand clenched around Yukimura’s as they stopped. The White Rabbit’s hand dipped into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out his watch. From his vantage point, the hands were still pointed at ‘too late’ though one had moved toward ‘tea time’. Yukimura looked up at the rabbit-eared man who seemed to be waiting for some expected event to happen. It was then that a strange hissing, clanking, groaning noise floated through the fog wisps. A jagged figure appeared in the mist, blurred and dark.
Yukimura drew back in fear. Whatever was approaching was huge, top-heavy and spouted bouts of hot billowing steam from rickety chimneys, and yet Yukimura felt no vibration in the ground that indicated an automobile drawing near. Spindly, wavering legs disturbed the thick vapour and as the contraption loomed, Yukimura could hear the sounds of raucous laughter and the tinkle of expensive china breaking.
He looked up at Keiji in confusion.
“These are the Mad Tea Party?” he asked with incredulity. Yukimura could not see how a group of frivolous party-goers could stand up against the creatures that flattened a castle.
Keiji nodded. “Yeah. Wait until you talk with them. I’ll guarantee you a headache afterwards,”
The rabbit-eared man crowed a greeting and a slice of cake flew their way. Yukimura ducked under a wayward strawberry.
The machine burst out of the mist and Yukimura finally saw a floating galleon that looked remarkably similar to the ships he had been seeing in Motonari’s smoke. Giant threads of broiling smoke kept the vessel floating and the human realised that these were the ‘legs’ he had seen through the fog. The black-painted wood had gilt furnishings along the side in curling rays that reminded Yukimura of a river of gold, and looking up, the starboard railing was at a height that was at least twice Keiji.
The contraption levitated alongside and a worn rope ladder rolled down and landed with a thump in the grey dust at their feet. The craft sighed to a stop and Keiji released Yukimura’s hand and bowed, hands gesturing at the ladder.
“Guests first.”
Yukimura muttered his thanks and grasped the frayed rope with apprehension. The climb up was short and the brunet was greeted with a plate that would have broken his nose had he not ducked in time. The platter spun off into the distance and broke with a faint crash. Someone burst out giggling – presumably the plate-tosser – and Yukimura glared over the oiled balustrade.
The youth clambered over and shuffled to the side, avoiding smears of cream on the deck and waiting for Keiji to climb up, eyeing the two seated at the ship-long table set for twenty.
The cackling one – white-haired, hare-eared, youthful and clothed in a fine, violet naval captain’s jacket, matching breeches and eye-patch – swung black-booted feet onto the wrinkled tablecloth and leered at the newly arrived White Rabbit, straightening his pristine cravat.
The other one was slumped over the messy table with his back to the new arrivals, moaning.
“I-is this it?” Yukimura whispered tentatively at Keiji.
Keiji ignored the question and strode forward, a scowl directed at the other lounging lapin-eared man, inspecting a silver ring dangling from his drooping left ear.
“Where is the Mad Hatter, Motochika?” Keiji crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the other man who nonchalantly brushed imaginary lint off his white, ruffled sleeve.
“Clearly not at the head of the table. Now, what do we owe that pleasure of meeting today, Keiji? You don’t usually bring guests to our abode.” Motochika waved a black-gloved hand and with a sickening jolt, Yukimura felt the boards beneath his feet wail anew and the ship began moving.
“He is none of your concern yet.” Keiji’s eyes narrowed into bronze slits. “Where is Masamune Date?”
The two stayed silent for a few moments before another man – pulling on a blue tailcoat, and sporting a black eye-patch and battered top hat with an odd assortment of objects sticking out of the silk rim – stepped out of what could be presumed to be the galley and stopped in surprise.
“What is this?” Masamune Date growled in heavily accented English.
Yukimura shrank back behind Keiji as silence reigned.
The Dormouse groaned into the stained tablecloth.
Simultaneously, the White Rabbit, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter broke out into heavy laughter. Yukimura stood near the prow of the mast-less ship, exceedingly confused.
Keiji dried his eyes on his sleeve and straightened. “It has been a long time hasn’t it, Motochika!” He offered a hand to the floored Hare and pulled him upright as Masamune slapped the Dormouse on the back to wake him.
“Oi, Kojuro! We have guests so we can’t disappoint.”
The Drained Dormouse muttered a muffled curse into the silk and lifted his head. His gunmetal-grey eyes met with Yukimura’s and the younger felt as if he were fastened to his spot beside the spare plates stacked in a pile.
This is the man who prevents the others in Wonderland from leaving, Yukimura attempted to fix a disapproving look onto his face. But I wonder what his reason is to remain here…
“Hey, kid. D’you want some tea?” Yukimura blinked at the unrefined manner that the gentlemanly dressed Hatter spoke in. And that strange accent…
“Keiji, is this human deaf or can’t he understand English?” The top-hatted man yelled over his shoulder at the Rabbit who was making himself comfortable in a high-backed dinner chair.
Yukimura flushed at the direct jibe. “I can talk! I just cannot comprehend how uncivilised you all are.”
Masamune snorted derisively and bared a scowl full of odd razor-teeth that reminded Yukimura of a shark. “Is this seriously the best you could get, Lady Killer?”
Lady… Killer? Yukimura thought in confusion, oblivious to the insult. His unspoken question must have shown because Keiji waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
“Story for another time, Yukimura. Masamune, do you even know how hard it is nowadays to find a single person with an imagination strong enough to even dream of Wonderland? I could barely nab his mind, let alone one with a bit more experience.” Motochika burst into guffaws at Keiji statement, the latter tossing an empty cup at the March Hare which shattered upon contact with his skull.
“Humans nowadays. No imagination at all.”
Yukimura wondered whether or not to feel insulted or flattered. He was led by the elbow to a comfortable sitting chair next to the Drained Dormouse who had returned to planting his face into the table.
“Is he…?”
“Oh, Kojuro’s like this all the time so don’t feel too offended if he doesn’t talk to you.” Motochika said, as Keiji threw the Hare a confused look.
The Mad Hatter slumped into his seat at the head of the table and hooked a leg over the arm of the chair.
“Wake me up when something interesting happens, Motochika,” he muttered then pulled his battered top hat over his eyes and crossed his arms. His breathing evened out and Yukimura stared at the now-asleep Hatter.
Motochika shook his head.
“Relax. Sometimes we wonder why he’s the Mad Hatter and not the Dormouse.” The March Hare upended a pink teapot, the amber liquid bouncing around the table in golden arcs and into random cups scattered around. “Pass a spoon.”
The Hatter plucked a spoon out of his hat’s blue sash and flung it at the March Hare who caught it deftly and stirred the sugar he dropped in.
“Now, how about you introduce your friend properly?”
Yukimura sipped his spicy tea from a teacup that should have been reserved for a giant instead. The hot liquid was pleasant to the taste and a welcomed drink after the chill of the streets below. Yukimura could understand if the men seated around him had decided to drink tea and share cake in the company of one another for a couple more years.
Keiji forked a slice of cake and took a generous bite. “This is Yukimura Sanada. He’s our new Cardholder. Oh, and delicious cake, Kojuro!”
The Drained Dormouse stirred, silencing Keiji and Motochika, sat up and fixed his cold gaze upon the human next to him. “He’s hardly a Cardholder.”
Yukimura shrank in fear. The animosity this man exuded from his cold eyes and hardened face was blistering, and in his dead eyes was a spark of challenge. Deciding that remaining polite and meek in Wonderland would probably not benefit himself in the long-run Yukimura straightened and fixed a passably stronger look upon his face.
“I may be hardly a Cardholder, even if I do not know what I must do, but I am the only Cardholder you have.” His voice sounded much braver than he felt.
Something in the Dormouse changed at his words. The stone-grey eyes creased into a small sign of amusement and acceptance though Kojuro’s visage remained impassive.
“The kid has guts, Lord Masamune. He might actually pull through this time.” Kojuro angled his head at the Mad Hatter and Yukimura finally saw the round, furry ears near concealed in the man’s neat hair.
So he does have mouse ears!
The Hatter, however, tilted his top hat with a finger, silver eye glittering from under the shadowy depths. “You’ve said that for the last eight Cardholders too. Now look at where we are.”
And uncomfortable silence fell over the group and Yukimura deemed it necessity to bury his burning face into his hot tea.
Motochika tossed a scone at the reclining Hatter’s head that shifted slightly to avoid it in a smooth and practised move. The March Hare blew contemptuously at the anti-social hat maker and clapped his hands.
“Battle plans then!” The empty saucers and pots on the table rattled on the table then shuffling away, around, over, under and in every which-way until they were looking at nine tiny teacups positioned around various stains and blotches that Yukimura finally made out to be a table-sized map with moving pieces as the tableware.
Motochika smirked at Yukimura’s amazed face. “Bet you don’t see anything like this in your world.”
Yukimura nodded in fascination and with a shuddering groan, the teleporting tea house burst out of a wall of green fog and into the bright orange rays of a sunset. Yukimura squinted, waiting for his gloom-adjusted eyes to adapt to the brightness.
“Which of the Ace or Knave do you think is the most screwed up?” Motochika asked Keiji, and Yukimura half-listened, swiping a scone off a platter to his left.
“I think Ieyasu’s pretty bad… poor Mitsunari’s got it tough, but he’s right about everything he insults the Ace with.”
“What does he say about the Ace of Hearts?” Yukimura asked offhandedly.
“Well, the usual drivel. Ieyasu’s a silver-tongued liar and a traitor, both of which he is. And my favourite was the time that Mitsunari screeched that Ieyasu was a knave. That really got me laughing.” The three shared a brief chuckle.
“I think Mitsunari is the worse out of the two,” Kojuro added quietly. He had straightened himself for a cup of tea, no sugar or milk.
“Huh? Really, tell us why.” Keiji smiled over the table.
“He might have his Gentry Vow of ‘thou shall not kill’, but…” Kojuro’s expression grew far away as a cake cutter thrown by Masamune thudded into the closest pastry.
“Why’re you talking about this? Change the subject,” snapped the Mad Hatter. His hand briefly ghosted up to feel the black eye-patch that concealed his right eye.
Following Masamune’s suggestion, the talk turned to strategy which Yukimura quickly grew bored of. He briefly mused on how he had the power to change all of Wonderland as Cardholder. What did a Cardholder do anyway?
Leaving the Rabbit and Hare to pouring over the secret battle map, Yukimura got to his feet and approached the port side railing to admire the sunset. The tea party was levitating along a jagged precipice that made Yukimura dizzy looking down, but away from the base of the cliff were emerald fields of forest scarred by tiny tracks and a huge stripe of torn, brown earth. Even further away was a giant pile of white marble amid tumbled land dotted with red.
“That used to be the Castle of Hearts.” Yukimura jumped as the Mad Hatter sipped some tea from his saucer beside him. He poured a little more tea onto the plate with the teacup. “The castle used to be beautiful.”
Yukimura examined the nostalgic expression upon Masamune’s face before turning back to the landscape.
“You know, I used to hat the people there,” Masamune’s mouth cracked into a sad smile. “The Knave was particularly against my creations.”
“Why?”
“Who knows? Maybe he just didn’t like me.”
They stood side by side in silence for a few more moments.
“Why do you fight against the Ace and Knave? Wouldn’t it be better if you left Wonderland and just left those two to fight it out alone?” Yukimura asked. Masamune sipped more tea.
“I fight because I don’t want to see either of them on the throne. Kojuro decided for himself that he would stay by my side as my guardian until I find myself at the end of my path. Motochika fights with me because he can’t stand not doing anything. And he enjoys Kojuro’s cakes too much.”
Yukimura nodded. Kojuro was staying in Wonderland for this man’s dream. He admitted that perhaps the role that the Dormouse had imposed upon himself was honourable in its own way, but it still seemed a little selfish. Loyal, but inconsiderate.
“I bet Motonari said something to you. Doubt Keiji’s motive? That’s his favourite one.” Yukimura looked over in surprise.
“Really, Motonari wants to stay here. Even though he might say that he hates this place and how much he loathes Kojuro for not stepping out, Smoker is next on the list after the Dormouse.” Masamune let out a quiet laugh. “Then people would really hate him. He’s always been a dislikeable one.”
Yukimura smiled in response. Motonari Mori really did give off a distasteful vibe. Maybe it was his smoking machine.
“Hatter, what happens when you step out?”
Masamune’s remained impassive as he drank his tea. “I don’t know. Keiji says we’ll wake up as we are, but human and over there.”
He drained his cup.
“I don’t really fancy waking up and living a boring life.”
“But if you were over on my side, I could possibly meet you one day and we could trade stories instead,” Yukimura added lightly.
The Hatter frowned. A light wind picked up, ruffling their hair as they were drenched in the dying rays of the sun.
“Yukimura.” The hardly-Cardholder turned to the Hatter, a question in his eyes. “Just remember, life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. You might not hold the best cards right now, but play them right. You might just live.”
Before Yukimura could open his mouth to interrogate the Mad Hatter, Masamune shoved his guest backwards, tea set smashing on the floor. The brunet rolled to a stop on the other side of the moving galleon, several bruises richer.
“We’re being attacked!” Motochika roared, and reached for the silverware.
…Were they going to fight with cutlery?
Yukimura looked up to see the Hatter whipping out six spoons from atop his hat – three in each hand – and lift them as if to defend. Then a force slammed into the side that rocked the ship to near-capsizing point. Yukimura tumbled dangerously along the wooden barrier and felt his leg slip into thin air for a stomach-dropping second.
Yukimura looked back. A white monster with gleaming red eyes and talons groped at the air, finding little purchase in the soft wood of the boat. The Hatter held the creature at bay with six swords – no longer spoons – and Motochika hurled a giant anchor-pike at the white monster. The Drained Dormouse lurched forward, butter knife extending into a long-sword that sent the monster reeling away.
Splinters flew at Yukimura’s face and he raised an arm to shield his eyes, only to open them to see the monster’s ruby eyes fixing themselves on Yukimura and he felt his heart stop.
DIEDIEDIEHUMANDIE
Yukimura balked at the undisguised fury directed at him and felt his body slip as he heard Keiji shout his name. Scrabbling on shattering wood, the Cardholder tumbled off the Mad Hatter’s ship and into the shadow of the mountain.
x--x--x
The world was rocking beneath Yukimura in a steady gait. As his senses returned to him in full, Yukimura felt warm steel beneath his fingers and corded muscle shifting with each step. Cool air gusted around Yukimura’s chilled skin but warmth glowed from the being carrying him on its back. The bitter smell of ash and, strangely, burnt sugar filled his nostrils and his right ankle twinged with every step.
His thoughts floated back and forth over the line of consciousness and, after a while, he fancied himself deceased. Yukimura cracked open an eyelid when his curiosity got the better of him – after all, what did the afterlife look like? His vision was blurred and filled with soft blues and browns. When his sight cleared a little, he thought that the next world looked remarkably like Wonderland with all its glowing jewel-flowers and fluffy fungi the size of an elephant.
Yukimura shifted a little to see what had decided to carry him. He had assumed it to be some sort of fantastical beast but the figure seemed too human-like with its steady two-legged step and pitch-coloured hood drawn up over its head. Yukimura stifled a scream – Death was carrying him away, wasn’t he. The sudden movement alerted the hooded figure to Yukimura’s consciousness and they stopped.
“Oh, are you awake now?” The figure turned and Yukimura steeled himself against the bleached skull and burning eye sockets he had imagined as Death. What he saw instead were golden eyes and strong, handsome features.
…This is what Death looked like?
Below the man’s gentle eyes, tattooed crimson into his tanned cheek was a Heart sliced through the middle with a white scar.
“Are you… the Ace of Hearts?” Yukimura asked after getting over his initial shock and restarting his brain. Ieyasu smiled and turned back to the dirt path they were walking on. Or rather, Ieyasu was walking on and Yukimura was being piggybacked.
“My place is just a little further so you can rest there properly,” the Ace of Hearts said as they neared a copse of azure trees that glowed with arcs of white electricity. Yukimura stared in wonder at the stunning plants that each seemed to contain a storm until Ieyasu stepped into a sky-blue glade filled with swaying, silver grass dotted with stone flowers. Sheltered by a trio of large sapphire laburnums drooping with diamonds was a quaint cottage made of rough wood and honey-coloured stones. A small chimney spouted rings of white smoke and the smell of baking pastry filled Yukimura’s nose.
They made their way around the staring flowers and Ieyasu reached out to swing open the front door. The inside was much like the outside – warm and homely… and very unbefitting of the infamous Ace of Hearts, traitorous king slayer. There was a small table and a large collection of teapots in a cupboard in the large kitchen. A bed of low coals glowed in the fireplace and a stack of small cakes sat near, warming.
Yukimura was gently set down on the small bunk near the rear of the cabin and Ieyasu began bustling around the kitchen, searching for medical supplies and setting out a plate of cakes. The Cardholder’s mouth watered as he was presented with a small plate of square cakes that seemed to cry, ‘eat me!’
“How did you find me?” he asked in curiosity as his eyes roamed the cottage interior. Somehow, Yukimura didn’t see the Ace of Hearts building the structure by hand, nor did he see the table quietly sitting in the middle of the house. He imagined the worn table groaning under the weight of cakes and puffs, surrounded by several pots of tea, and in the odd space where Ieyasu kept a chest was the perfect space for another bed, for another person.
Yukimura saw the Hatter, standing at the sink while quietly washing some dishes as Kojuro snoozed on his bed.
He was sitting in the old home of the Mad Hatter.
Feeling strange, Yukimura put down the unbitten cake in his hands.
“Actually, I saw you fall,” Ieyasu said simply as he gently disengaged Yukimura’s bruised right foot from his sensible leather shoe. He began wrapping the injured flesh in deft strips of linen as he continued.
“I was taking a walk along my border when I saw the tea house get attacked by Mitsunari. I ran closer then I saw you fall and I jumped to catch you before you hit the ground.” Ieyasu frowned at Yukimura’s untouched plate. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
“I am not that hungry, sorry,” Yukimura murmured.
So that monster with the crimson eyes and ancient vehemence was the Knave of Hearts, Mitsunari. Yukimura shivered. Never before had he seen such a wild beast.
“Ah, I see that you have come face to face with Mitsunari’s other,” Ieyasu smiled knowingly and sat on a stool opposite to Yukimura. The Cardholder nodded once and Ieyasu laid a comforting hand on Yukimura’s shoulder.
“He was always against stepping out into the human world. He hates change, you see. So don’t feel too bad about being loathed by him. He just gets a little… excited once the prospect of a good fight appears and his other form comes out. He’s always been a little bloodthirsty,” Ieyasu laughed shortly. “Good thing he has his Gentry Vows, or all of us would be dead and on the other side. The human side, I mean.”
Yukimura frowned. “If you die here, you are sent to my side?”
Ieyasu nodded. “We do. You don’t. You would die like any other normal human. Sorry.”
Yukimura’s face fell as Ieyasu moved away to clean the kitchen. Only a few hours before Yukimura was drinking tea with people who were most likely now dead. He clenched his eyes shut, fighting off the image of the scaly beast that pinned him with such a bloodthirsty look. How could he even entertain the thought that that monster known as the Knave of Hearts wouldn’t kill Masamune and his friends all because of a few simple words?
There was a knock on the door. Yukimura flinched and hurried to lace up his shoes as Ieyasu opened the door with a grace and wariness that was unbefitting of his large stature.
At the door was a knightly man in dress and stance, skin and hair as white as the white, high-necked, long coat he wore over his silver armour. A black sword hung at the man’s side while a very familiar man drooped from spiked gloves by his lapel, spoon-studded top hat still perched precariously on his brown hair.
“What do you think you are doing, Ieyasu?” The knight growled, dropping the unconscious Mad Hatter. “I do not recall you living in this area.”
Yukimura stared in horror and strangely, relief. Masamune was alive at least – torn and unconscious, but still breathing. That probably meant that everyone else was also alive and somewhere close. After all, they wouldn’t just abandon their bad-tempered friend.
Ieyasu stepped out of the doorway, causing the other to step back with disgust. “Well, no one was around so I decided to live here. Any problem, Mitsunari?”
This was the monster that attacked them on the floating galleon? This emerald-eyed man looked nothing like the huge creature with flaming eyes and gaping razor-teeth.
Suddenly, Ieyasu rolled to his right. The Knave seemed to blur a little and then Motochika, Keiji and Kojuro landed in a heap before the front door, weapons embedded in the ground. With a wrench, Keiji yanked out a giant blade from the earth which Yukimura realised was a clockwork sword of burnished brass and clicking gears.
Yukimura rushed to the table. He needed to get out of the house, otherwise Yukimura had a feeling that it would end up like the houses in the fog area… and he’d be under it. But there was only one way out of the cabin and unless he could walk through walls, it was impossible for him to escape.
Yukimura saw a black flash through the window and he ducked behind the table just as the front of the cottage exploded inwards and he was showered with rock, dust and pieces of crockery. He looked up again and saw through what was left of the door; Ieyasu clashing with Mitsunari in a momentary stalemate. Mitsunari blurred again, a light flurry of wind filling the collapsed space and Ieyasu was knocked away with slashed debris. The structure groaned above him and Yukimura withdrew under the table, awaiting his crushing death. He heard the roof cave in with an exhausted whump and for a second, Yukimura couldn’t breathe as if he had been buried in his casket alive, then an excruciating moment later, Sasuke and Yukimura rematerialised outside and away from the battle.
Yukimura gasped air and rolled out of the Cheshire Cat’s tight grip. Sasuke grinned his broad smile and sat on his flickering haunches, green-striped tail lazily waving in the air waiting for Yukimura to regain his breath.
“Y-you… why are you… here?” Yukimura questioned in between gulps of air. Masamune groaned beside him and labouriously sat up.
“The stupid Cat saved our lives. Don’t question him further,” Masamune said through gritted teeth.
Sasuke’s eyes glittered. “I’m just here as a spectator. All I wish for is to see a proper ending to this long play.” With that, he faded into the trees.
Masamune struggled to his feet. “Hatter, wait. You’re too injured to get involved with their fight!” Yukimura reached out, only to be roughly brushed off.
“This is my home, my land. I’ll be damned if I let those aristocrats wreck my garden!” He growled savagely, pulling out another set of spoons that flashed into six swords.
Yukimura sat back, defeated. He was useless, even though he was the Cardholder. There were others before him, but they all hadn’t fixed Wonderland. If they couldn’t, how could he? He didn’t even know where to start.
There was a tumultuous roar and a burst of light, and the monster on the ridge was back. Mitsunari howled his rage when Keiji and Masamune inflicted damage and batted them away with a huge clawed paw. The monster reared up and gaped.
“Lord Masamune!” The Dormouse leaped to protect his charge just as the ruby-eyed monster belched a violent blast of crimson energy. Yukimura dove to the side to avoid the beam and felt several beings slam into him mid-air, knocking the breath out of him.
“Kojuro!” Masamune tossed aside his swords to reach for the injured Dormouse. Together, they took pressure off Kojuro’s injured side and laid him down to recover.
“Lord Masamune, you must keep fighting. Motochika and Keiji cannot stand for long under both Ieyasu and Mitsunari’s attacks,” Kojuro said firmly. Masamune pulled off his tail coat and folded it as a pillow, slotting it gently under Kojuro’s head.
“I’m not letting you give up, Kojuro,” Masamune said resolutely. Kojuro fixed the Hatter with a stern glare.
“You should understand that moving on is not the same as giving up.” The Dormouse’s face cracked slightly, letting a small, content smile show. “I’m sure we will meet again on the other side.”
Yukimura’s eyes welled up with tears. He closed them, feeling them water down his cheeks in small rivulets.
When he opened them, the Drained Dormouse was gone.
The Hatter stood with a furious speed and whirled around to face the enemy. Yukimura looked upon the war before him as if he were looking through a glass – removed and cold. His hand slipped into his pocket and he felt the rough edge of his photograph. Pulling it out, he was surprised to see the photo completely changed; it was no longer a static memory of an old home, it was of a high tea party with many, many curious and peculiar beings among fantastical beasts drinking tea with one another.
The Cardholder smiled to himself. He knew how to play his cards.
“I wish for a happy ending for all of us.” He whispered to the photo and all went dark.
x--x--x
“Hey… Wake up.” Someone shook his shoulder and with bleary eyes and a twinging ankle, Yukimura unstuck his eyelids. The sun was going down in the red-streaked sky and a shadowed figure gently lifted Yukimura.
He felt as if he had fallen into a ditch and knocked his head because strange visions of smoking caterpillars and floating skyships filled his mind.
“Are you alright? You fell into a rabbit hole and bumped your head. Do you hurt anywhere else?” Yukimura turned to his finder and blinked in surprise.
Slim and fine-suited with a silk top hat atop his head was the Mad Hatter.
“Oh, no. I am quite alright, thank you very much.” Yukimura stared in shock at the eye-patched man’s face, who became increasingly uncomfortable the longer the boy kept eye contact. Then a small niggling thought appeared in his mind.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you from somewhere?”
Yukimura smiled and shook his head.
After a short talk, Yukimura found that Masamune Date was their new neighbour a little way down the road, and once he was returned to his family relatively unscathed – aside from a bruised right ankle – they all sat down for tea.
They talked for a long while, then Masamune’s chauffer drove around to pick the man up. Yukimura smiled at the scarred, stony-eyed man who nodded at him from the driver’s seat.
Then in the following weeks, he saw Motochika at the port nearby, the captain of a ship. Sasuke Sarutobi and Motonari Mori were the next he knew of, having escaping Wonderland.
Sasuke spotted Yukimura as he was doing some shopping in town and they chatted as they walked. Sasuke had become part of the circus with his disappearing act (he still had a knack for it even out of Wonderland), while Yukimura’s father had left a card from an ombudsman on the kitchen table, labelled ‘Motonari Mori’. It still stank of smoke.
As the months passed, Yukimura grew ever more worried, having not seen Ieyasu, Mitsunari or Keiji at all. Perhaps they had been revived elsewhere, but the abundance of characters appearing near him had convinced him otherwise.
Then a horrible thought occurred to him. Hadn’t the White Rabbit said that only he was holding the door open? He couldn’t recall seeing the Smoking Caterpillar or the Cheshire Cat leaving Wonderland, but neither did he see Masamune leave either.
His fears were put to rest when one day he saw Ieyasu and Mitsunari walking side by side down a street, conversing casually. Yukimura almost cried out aloud. If those two had managed to leave, it must mean that Keiji was okay.
But as the months turned into a year, Yukimura’s jubilation turned sour.
Then one day:
“I wonder where my red hat went…”
x--x--x
Keiji paced his Garden, revelling in the silence of his world. The Rabbit Hole was closed, the world below gone.
Near the thinning gateway between the human world and Wonderland stood a single, pink-flowered tree, a red hat hanging from a low branch.
Keiji picked the hat from the tree, reminiscing a time when Wonderland used to be a little brighter and full of more people.
“Why is a crow like a cupola, Saica?” Keiji muttered to himself with a smile, thinking of the riddle the Second of Hearts had told him. He knew the riddle was to get rid of him, but just because he enjoyed being around Magoichi Saica didn’t mean it was reciprocated.
He shrugged and stepped away from the tree, giving it one last friendly pat.
Keiji looked at the yawning gap that was the doorway into the sparkling abyss and steeled himself.
It was time he returned that hat.
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