Kihyun wasn’t sure where it was that the suits were dragging him off to, his body eventually falling limp from exhaustion long after he lost track of the directions he had been carried. Watching the walls of the castle in reverse probably didn’t help with his spatial awareness either, or the images he had seen right before Hyungwon had announced his death for a crime he had no way of committing. He had only recently started visiting Wonderland… and when he had first met the White Queen, he had been baffled by what a ‘king’ even was. Hell, he had even still shown confusion about the title before they sat down for tea and cookies! And now he suddenly was accusing him of killing someone with the title of White King? 

How many times did he have to tell everyone within the castle walls that he wasn’t whoever this ‘Alice’ person was in the first place? Hyunwoo refused to get it through his thick skull. And now because the stupid rabbit eared male calling him that he was being charged for a crime without evidence! There had to be some kind of trial system, even in a backwards place like this, right? Before his thoughts could race much further, he was tossed from the suits’ hold, rolling onto a slab of light colored wood, barely having the chance to look up at the pair in time to see one pulling on a leaver, causing the wooden slab to drop out from underneath him. He was then sent downward, becoming encased in darkness when the trapdoor-like contraption closed above him before he could fully process the ache that came from hitting what felt like concrete or stone.

The brunet let out a small groan of pain, rolling from his side onto his back, grimacing when he laid on what he could only imagine was a rock of some sort, arching his back and reaching underneath himself to fish it out, expression scrunching when he found a cold, smooth object instead of the stone. He pulled it out from underneath himself, squinting as his eyes tried to adjust to the light, sighing when he was unable to interpret the object completely, but it seemed to be on some kind of chain, leaving him to assume it wasn’t actually a rock. His eyes slowly started adjusting to the dark around him, trying to focus on the slight teal glow that came from several yards from him, feeling himself frown when it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The brunet let out a small huff, flinching when the glow popped back into existence as if responding to the noise, this time doubled for a brief moment, fading to thin circles after and Kihyun found himself holding his breath as the glow started coming closer to him. He hardly hesitated before he was scooting backwards until he knocked into a wall, mind starting to race once again. He didn’t trust anything in this world, what if those were the eyes of some monster of a creature? Was his death sentence meant to be him getting eaten alive in the darkness, never knowing what it was that caused his last breath? The glow stopped approaching him, or at least slowed to the point that he wasn’t able to notice any movement, Kihyun’s fingers gripping even tighter around the small object he had rolled onto minutes earlier.

He debated throwing the object at the glow, opting against the idea when he found himself unable to trust his aim in the darkness, sure he would only anger the creature further. Not to mention the way his body chose to freeze up when the glow signaled the creature lunging at him, and he followed through with whatever movement his body came up with first: shutting his eyes while swinging the object in hand, keeping a firm enough grip that he wouldn’t lose it easily. All his movements stilled again as soon as his hand came into contact with something a full arm’s length from him, and his eyes opened when a weight dropped onto one of his legs, trapping him under the force as whatever attacked him as it let out a human-like groan. It was then that Kihyun realized how panicked his breathing had become, stuck wondering how exactly he would be getting free while the creature was stunned as scooting back further wasn’t an option. If he shoved the creature, there was a chance he could be bit, and he knew the longer he hesitated the more difficult it would be to stay away from the creature. With that in mind he reached out to give a hard shove, pausing when the creature barely offered resistance, as if it rolled off Kihyun’s leg on its own terms.

“That really hurt.” Wait- the thing could speak? In a non-panicked state the brunet probably wouldn’t have been caught off guard by the fact, and the brunet found himself slowly standing on quivering legs, one hand against the wall for balance in the dark, half circles of the thin teal glow directed at him. His other hand slipped the hard object he had used into his pocket to inspect later.

“You jumped at me! Did you think I was gonna just lay there and let you eat me without a fight?” He was met with a pause, the glowing now something he assumed to be the creature’s eyes moving up to hover about waist level on the brunet, leaving him to figure the thing was now sitting up.

“Eat you? I was just trying to play. Geeze, they throw even the grumpy people down here. I thought the silly rabbit only wanted to get rid of people that flustered the queen.” Kihyun felt like everything he assumed since getting dropped into whatever prison-like room he was now in had been torn from him.

“Wait… are you trying to say you’re a prisoner down here too?” The glow blinked away again, reappearing a further distance from him and he heard the creature hum.

“Considering you’re the one behind bars, I think you’re the one that’s really a prisoner. I was just taking a nap before heading home.”

“You were just on top of me, how am I the one behind bars and you’re not?” Kihyun asked, pushing himself off the wall that had been supporting him, moving towards the new position of the glowing eyes, halting when his cheeks came into contact with something cold and hard, causing him to stagger back hand a step, rubbing at his face, and the creature broke out in a fit of laughter.

“Why would you run into the bars like that? You’re too big to squeeze between them,” the creature said between collecting large breaths of air, and Kihyun narrowed his eyes.

“Then how exactly did you get out? You sure didn’t feel like you were smaller than me,” Kihyun pointed out, looking around when the glow disappeared once again. They didn’t reappear anywhere that he could detect in front of himself, squinting through the darkness on his left and right as well. The next time he jumped he wasn’t sure if it was because the voice came from behind him, or because he felt the creature’s breath against the back of his neck.

“Like this.” The reply was simple and came in an unthreatening tone, and Kihyun told himself that it was the suddenness that caught him off guard, spinning around to face the pair of eyes, barely visible as the creature let out another bout of laughter. “You should see the look on your face,” the creature chimed, and Kihyun let out an annoyed huff.

“And how am I supposed to see anything? It’s pitch black down here,” Kihyun pointed out, and the giggles died off; the brunet almost preferred them to the quiet that was followed by a soft shuffle of fabric.

“Oh, right. Your kind can’t see in the dark, can they?” the creature asked, and there was a bit of shuffling before a dim glow causing the other’s features to come into focus. What caught the shorter male off guard was the fact that as far as he could tell, the light haired figure was human like himself or Hyungwon, no signs of weird ears popping out of the top of his head, leaving Kihyun confused about what the other meant by ‘his kind’. Dismissing that, he looked to what the figure held in his hand, finding a small glass jar sitting on his open palm, containing a few mushrooms glowing a brilliant icy blue. 

The longer he spent around the stranger the more questions he was left with, giving him a sinking feeling of Déjà vu, and his gaze traveled upwards to the vague outline of the wooden trap door he had been dropped down through. He could partially see now with the other’s help, but he doubted a jar of glowing mushrooms would be getting him out of the prison any time soon. He found himself more and more grateful for the difference in time between Wonderland and his own world, and Kihyun found himself letting out a sigh, frowning when the figure’s face was suddenly only a couple of inches from his own.

“Even with the light you’re still bothered,” the other pointed out and Kihyun gave him the blandest expression he could manage.

“Just because I now can see you’re not some eight foot monster with giant fangs and claws, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still trapped in here with you,” he pointed out, watching the light haired figure’s head tilt to the side briefly before he grinned revealing slightly larger than average canines that sent a shiver through Kihyun. The figure’s teal eyes gleamed again before he vanished with a blink, the jar of glowing mushrooms floating where he had been holding it, and the brunet felt himself bristle once again. He had knocked his head against the floor in his fall, hadn’t he? Or perhaps the tea and cookies were laced with hallucinogens.

“Now you’re trapped in there without me,” came the figure’s voice from behind him once again, causing him to spin around. He was right- somehow the other was on the opposite side of the prison bars from himself, and Kihyun felt his eyes go wide, amusing the figure, and the brunet frowned when he started laughing again.

“I’m not sorry for hitting you anymore,” he stated, silencing the figure who gave a roll of his eyes as he straightened up.

“You’re about as fun as the rest of your kind,” the figure stated, causing Kihyun’s frown to deepen.

“And you must have been locked down here for quite a long time if you don’t know that I’m - wait. My kind… Have others like me ended up down here?” the shorter asked, stepping closer and grabbing ahold of the bars, searching the light-haired male’s face. Was there an actual chance that he wasn’t the first that Hyunwoo had dragged from the other world? Perhaps there was someone else here that could help him make some kind of sense of everything that had happened, what had played in his head like a memory that didn’t belong to him. At his point he didn’t care how desperate his expression was as he watched the other figure almost snicker, while appearing to attempt not to smile.

“Well duh. Of course they have. They wander around the castle for a bit, say something to piss off the White Queen and get tossed down here. It’s been a while since someone joined me, but your kind ends up down here a lot,” he replied, tone hinting that it was something insanely obvious as he looked Kihyun over. “You’re not from the Red Kingdom, so I don’t get why you don’t know about your own kingdom’s customs.” Any hope that Kihyun had vanished and he let his head hit the bars of the prison with a groan.

“You think I’m a suit, don’t you?” he mumbled, the figure’s face coming close to his again, causing him to step back from the bars.

“Well you’re not a Queen, and you complain too much to be a Hatter. What else could you be but a suit when you don’t have a pair of floppy ears either,” the figure pointed out and Kihyun gave him a hard look over.

“You don’t have ears either. And I doubt that you’re a Queen since you don’t have markings on your face, so what does that make you?” he argued, the figure taking a step back from the bars to give a dramatically deep bow.

“I, dear suit, am the Cheshire,” he introduced, standing up straight again, grinning at the shorter male after. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Kihyun tugged back the sleeve of his shirt, extending it through the bars and out towards the light-haired male. 

“For the last time, I’m not a suit,” he stated, hoping that his bare wrist would be evidence enough for the eccentric figure who stared down at his bare skin. The grin taken over by a curious expression, the figure reaching out for but not touching the shorter’s skin.

“If not a suit, then what kind of a creature are you?'' The Cheshire asked, gaze lifting to meet Kihyun’s once again, and he let out a sigh in response. 

“According to the White Rabbit, I’m Alice. But the only thing that’s done for me is cause me to become a gardener for the White Queen, and end with me getting locked down here,” he grumbled, unsure how to feel about the way The Cheshire’s eyes widened.

“The White Queen allowed you to tend to his garden even without being one of his suits? You must be special,” he stated, and Kihyun felt his shoulders sink a bit.

“Apparently I’m special in not-so-fun ways too, and now he wants me dead,” he stated, the Cheshire’s arms coming up to cross loosely over his chest. 

“Why not leave before the trial?” he suggested, and Kihyun gave him a sharp look.

“Easy for you to say, not everyone gets to choose what side of these bars we’re on,” he deadpanned and after a moment of thought, The Cheshire was reaching for the golden pouch fastened to the hip of his pants. Kihyun assumed it was the same place that he got the jar of glowing mushrooms from. Untying the red rope keeping it closed, the figure then reached down into it, arm sinking further than logically possible with the minimalistic size of the pouch, appearing to be digging around for something. Pulling his arm back out of the pouch the Cheshire revealed a single silver key with a grin, slipping it into the slot on the opposite side of the set of bars, the lock slipping out of place with a rusty clunk.

“How did- where did you get the key?” Kihyun asked as the barred door was opened by the other and he stepped out, closing the door behind himself before looking to The Cheshire’s constant grin.

“Oh, I found it around here quite some time ago.”

“But… Why were you staying locked up if you had the key? And beyond that, you’ve got the ability to teleport or something,” the brunet rattled on, the other laughing and giving a shrug, tucking the key back into his pouch.

“It was a nice place to rest after the long travel from the Red Kingdom,” he replied, extending his hand towards the bars. Kihyun followed the extension in time to watch the jar of glowing mushrooms drift through them and into the Cheshire’s palm, the taller humming and turning, heading away from the prison cell. The brunet was quick to follow after, having no intention to stay put without an explanation as to how he got out, or to face trial for a crime he hadn’t done. He hadn’t killed anyone!

Had he?

The Cheshire lead the way, a turn here and there, through the underground area, eventually coming to an indent in the wall that he pushed against, the indent revealing itself to instead be a circular hole in the wall that was hidden by a large rock. After slipping through himself he offered a hand back to Kihyun, aiding him in climbing out, and Kihyun stepped aside as the rock was rolled back into place, sealing the exit and leaving him wondering just how many times the strange figure ended up down there only to escape again. He would have expected a higher level of security, even if the lack thereof made his own escape easier, and he glanced up the tall, grey walls of the castle. How was he going to get back inside? Knowing his luck if he managed to crawl in through one of the windows, he would end up in a hallway he didn’t know and run headfirst into Hyungwon on his quest for the Looking Glass.

“You coming, strange one?” Kihyun turned his head in the direction of the other, eyebrows knitting together.

“You’re stranger than I am,” he countered, noticing the way the Cheshire’s eyes had shifted from teal to a golden color, but his lips were still pulled into a grin.

“I’m stranger, you’re stranger. Together… we’re strangers.” The response caught the brunet off guard, and he looked the other over, his grin met with a frown.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” He asked, earning a shrug before the other was turning and starting to walk away into the forest. One final glance was spared up to the castle, then Kihyun let out a groan, following after the Cheshire, even if he doubted that light-haired male knew anything about a tree hole that would take him home. The brunet wasn’t sure why he placed faith in the Cheshire's directional skills, though as he trailed after the figure’s fifth weaving loop around a pair of trees, he felt his patience growing thin.

“Do you even know where you’re going? I’m starting to think you were in that prison so long that you forgot your way home.” The Cheshire came to a stop, glancing over his shoulder at the shorter.

“‘Home’? Is that where we’re going?”

“I don’t know where we’re going, you just started walking so I assumed you knew how to get out of the forest.” The light-haired male’s lips pulled into a more playful grin this time as he circled around the tree once more.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, then any direction can take you there.” Kihyun resisted the urge to smack his own face, because honestly what did he expect from someone that had been relaxing in a prison. 

“I bet the reason that you think it’s such a long trek back to the Red Kingdom is because of how slow you go and the amount of hours you spend going round and round trees,” Kihyun stated, hearing the other hum as he leaned back against the tree he had been circling prior.

“Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry.”

“At this rate we’re going to still be wandering through the forest after nightfall.”

“Not all who wander are lost, Alice~” The Cheshire chimed, and the brunet came to a stop.

“Seriously, what is with you all talking in riddles?” He demanded, walking past the taller figure. The Cheshire’s eyes locked onto his movements, watching and turning his head to follow, allowing it to the side a bit.

“All?” He copied, and Kihyun turned around to face him once again, letting out a small huff.

“Hyunwoo showed up in my life saying that this ‘Alice’ he was looking for was the only one that could make sense of whatever riddles he came up with. He decided that I was Alice because I responded to the one he offered when first meeting me, but if anything they just left me feeling more and more confused. My name isn’t Alice, I’ve never even heard of a name like it. And now because of something he decided, I…” Letting out a sigh, Kihyun’s arms came up to wrap around his own waist, squeezing in an attempt to offer himself comfort. When he caught movement in his peripheral, he glanced up to see the other moving to stand in front of him, bending at the waist until they were eye-to-eye.

“You should meet the Red Queen. I’m sure he’ll have answers, he knows all about the White Queen,” he suggested, and Kihyun scrunched his nose at the idea. 

“Yeah, because the last time I met one of the Queens in this crazy world it ended fantastically for me,” the brunet fired back, pulling a laugh from the Cheshire as he straightened his posture.

“If there’s one thing that the Red Queen isn’t, it’s like the White Queen,” he replied, turning to start walking in the general direction they had been headed, leaving Kihyun with two options: continue following him in the hopes that he was actually leading the way to the Red Queen’s castle or attempt to find his way back to the white Kingdom and from there find a way home… without getting caught, considering his new criminal status. Letting his shoulders drop with a defeated breath he started trailing after The Cheshire once again, hands slipping into the pockets of his jeans. It was then that he remembered the object he had found earlier, wrapping his fingers around the smooth material, pulling it carefully out of his pocket to inspect in the slowly dimming light.

It appeared to be a pocket watch, though he had the sinking feeling that it was broken as none of the hands were moving… Or at least, not fast enough to notice. As he continued walking he glanced up to make sure he hadn’t lost sight of the Cheshire, then back down at the watch waiting for the second hand to tick forward. Once it had he started counting seconds in his head, watching as the hand would move about every seven seconds that he counted. Was it just that slow? Perhaps he had broken it when he fell onto it. It was a shame considering how pretty it was, that it didn’t have an actual use with the rate in which it counted time. Stifling a yawn with the back of his other hand, Kihyun slid the broken watch into his pocket, finding himself unable to bring himself to simply toss it to the side.

As he started to look forward again he came to a sudden halt when he noticed the red and black checkerboard a few feet in front of them, set with life-sized chess pieces on either side. Glancing around he saw the black bared fence lining the sides of the board along with as far back as Kihyun could see behind them. How long had he been staring at the watch? Especially considering how he had been following the Cheshire quite some distance through the forest with nothing around them changing. Speaking of the strange figure, he looked up at the blond male who looked like an NPC from a video game on idle mode, just staring ahead across the board, head bobbing ever so slightly from side to side.

Well if he wasn’t going to take the first steps across the board, Kihyun would do so himself. One step up onto the slightly raised board and there was a hand grabbing his upper arm, tugging him back down and Kihyun shot a confused look up at the other.

“Let me guess, it’s y-trapped or something?” He questioned, the Cheshire blinking back to focus and offering a smile to him. 

“If that means dangerous, then not at all… As long as you know how to play.”

“Did you seriously take me on another detour because you wanted to play a stupid game of chess?” Kihyun demanded, the Cheshire laughing in response, letting go of the brunet’s arm when he tugged it free.

“What is ‘chess’? Is it something that the white queen came up with?” he asked, Kihyun feeling the strong desire to internally scream, choosing to instead gesture towards the red and black checkerboard.

“This. This is chess.”

“No it isn’t, silly. This is a game that the Red Queen calls ‘I win'. If you wish to see the Red Queen, then you must win. Otherwise turn back now, Alice.” As much as he wanted to correct the taller, he found it pointless. Hyunwoo had never truly grasped any correction he had made, so what made him think the blond would stick to it? He was starting to wish he had given his actual name in their initial meeting.

“Are you serious?” he asked, arching an eyebrow, to which the other simply gestured towards the chessboard once again. He wasn’t stopped this time when Kihyun stepped up onto the board, the brunet flinching when the pieces around him shifted slightly, animated faces being molded out of the black material they were made of. What was he supposed to do to get them to move? Go up and introduce himself then tell them where to go? It didn’t seem right to try and shove something with a mostly human-like face.

“To get them where you want, touch a piece then touch the square you want it to go,” The Cheshire piped up as he was reaching out one hand to feel the smooth, eerily warm material, and Kihyun looked back to the figure.

“If I get injured, it’s your fault for making me do this,” he stated in a sour tone, and the blond rolled his eyes, stepping up to the edge of the board but not climbing up with him. 

“Do you know how to play?”

“Of course I know how to play.”

“Do you know how to win?” Something glinted in the figure’s eyes, an almost cold feeling creeping into the back of Kihyun’s mind, hesitating to answer.

“Theoretically, yes. I just have to capture the king or put my opponent in checkmate,” he replied cautiously, the Cheshire smiling.

“If you know how to play and how to win, then why would it be any fault of mine if you fail?” The blond stated and Kihyun found himself frowning in response.

“Because it was your idea to go see the Red Queen and play this stupid game!” Kihyun exclaimed, earning a shrug from the other and he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I knew I shouldn’t have followed you, no matter how lost I figured I would get in the woods. I just want to go home,” he grumbled, starting to look away when he saw The Cheshire’s head to the side.

“Little Alice, caught in Wonderland’s games. Somehow you strayed and lost your way, and now there’ll be no time to play, no time for friends… not even time to make amends.” The words caused the cold feeling in the back of his head to become a full-blown shiver down his spine, the blond’s teal eyes becoming a glittering gold color. 

“Make amends for what?” he dared to ask, the other’s eyes never leaving his own.

“You were on trial for something, weren’t you?” Kihyun didn’t have an answer he trusted at the moment, straightening his posture.

“Promise that you’ll step in if I’m about to get hurt. Make that deal with me and I’ll play this stupid game and go see the queen you decided I should,” he proposed instead of giving one, the gold fading back to teal, the blond’s smile appearing far less threatening now.

“Deal~” With that Kihyun slowly turned back to face the rest of the board, taking a deep breath, waiting for the first red piece to move.