The country of hearts is really big. And annoying. And confusing. Clara thought to herself as she headed down to Hatter's mansion. She needed a book or two to keep her company and all the books Julius had were about clocks.
No dib Sherlock.
How long would she be here? When will she be free from these psychopaths? What she didn't get was how the value of life was so meaningless. She pushed the stressful thinking to the side as the tall, black gate came into view.
"Big sis!!" Tweedle Dee chirped as Clara's black sweatshirt caught his eye. She waved to him, pulling the earphones out of her head to talk to Dee and Dum.
"How are you guys?" She laughed as she was suffocated in hugs.
"Good, but now it's better now that you're here!" They smiled up at the girl. "By the way, the boss has something for you, now that I think of it." Dum explained.
"Thanks. I came for a book or two." Clara shoved one earbud into her ear to listen to the rest of the song, but when she noticed the looks of curiosity from the two twins she showed them music.
"This is the music I'm listening to." She smiled as she pulled out the earplug. and soothing music came out like silk.
"Wow, you listen to weird music, but it's cool!" Dee smiled and began dancing in the weirdest way possible as the music changed to a upbeat tune.
"Slackers, get back to work!" Elliot yelled at them from over five feet, as if he came knowing what they were doing.
"Shut up stupid rabbit! Sis is here and we want to play with her!" The twins clung onto her sweatshirt tightly. Giving Elliot a 'help me' look, he rolled his eyes and pried the two off her.
"You'll have time to play with her later. Clara probably came here for a reason, and you two are in her way!" Elliot snapped. Without another word, he guided Clara through the large mansion, only stopping once or twice to show her the decor.
"Blood usually likes to work in his office." He explained, pointing to the door on his right. "He'll be glad to see you. Go on in, I've got some work to do." Elliot smiled, walking back down the hallway as a maid rushed next to him, holding piles of paperwork. Clara giggled as she could hear his groan from her spot. Clara stood at the door for a moment, wondering if she should knock before going in. As she placed her fist up to the wood, it swung back, and a man ran straight into her causing the two to topple to the ground.
"Sorry!" Clara quickly apologized, picking up her head to see Blood Dupre sitting up, rubbing his head.
"You sure say sorry a lot." Blood snickered, holding his hand out to help her up. Clara turned as red as a tomato, taking his hand.
"I only say it because there's and awkward moment in the room." She explained weakly. Great. She wanted to face palm herself. Blood grinned at the girl, placing a hand in her back to push her along.
"So what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, sitting atop his desk, keeping eye contract with the girl. She explained her predicament, and he nodded.
"Well, I have enough books to last you a lifetime. Please, take what you like. I've got work to be done." He sighed, sitting back down in the seat. Clara shrugged, walking over to the science fiction section. she skimmed her fingers over the endless selections. Clara's eyes widened. She picked up a certain crimson book and thumbed through the pages. She held it chose to her chest as she continued her search, finding book upon book she'd like to read.
"I'll have start reading." She chuckled. Clara searched forever for one specific book she'd been searching for ages. After an hour of ransacking the shelves, promising herself that she'd pick up the mess later, she found it. The book was a dirt brown, gold twisting around the binding.
"Howl's Moving Castle."
Unfortunately, it was on a shelf higher than her reach, but that didn't stop her. She tried everything. Jumping, piles of books to step on, even using the fire poker she picked up near the fireplace. She sighed, defeated.
"Let me help." Blood's voice whispered in her ear. A chill ran through Clara, causing goosebumps to appear on her arm. He reached over her head, plucking the book off the shelf with ease. He stared at the cover before handing it over.
"Howl's Moving Castle? Interesting book. Only got to read it once, when I was a kid." He smiled faintly. Clara felt like she had to repay this man. She was, after all, borrowing his books.
"How about I read it to you? As a way of saying thank you." Blood thought about it for a moment, rubbing his temples thoughtfully. He smiled as her and helped her pick a few more books down.
"Sure. I'm not stopping you. Maybe we could invite Elliot and the twins to our 'book party'." Blood bid the girl happy reading and Clara exited the study with five new novels to begin. She decided to walk through the mansion, taking in he scenery. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, the country was beautiful. The garden was filled with tall bushes. Roses and Forget-me-nots of all colors. A servant with dark brown hair was on her knees, snipping off wilting roses that did not make it. She turned to Clara, a smile on her blank face. Clara always wondered how they could live without eyes to see.
"Hello m'am." She politely greeted.
"Sup!" Clara smiled, walking over to the tall bush the servant was working on. "So, how do you care for roses?" She, herself, never had such a green thumb. Once she had a cactus, but it died a few days after from lack of sunlight.
"It's very hard. You must keep them very moist and you must cut the dead roses off for new ones to grow." She explained.
"Clara!" Elliot set a hand on her shoulder, nodding happily to the servant. She nodded back and returned to her duty of cutting the wilting flowers.
"Yo, I thought you had work to do?" Clara eyed him suspiciously. Blood said Elliot had a track of slacking out on signing papers.
"I swear it. I'm done and Blood said I may find you out here." He shook his head as they walked along the cobblestone path through the labyrinth of lush forestry. He clipped off a rose from the bush and began picking off the thorns with his gloved hands. "This country has been missing apart of itself. Something not easily gained back." Elliot explained, scratching his long, tan rabbit ears. He handed the red rose to Clara, putting it behind her ear to keep the hair out of her eyes. "I truly believe you can mend this country, and show it the ways you think are best."
They sat in the garden for hours. Looking up at the light blue sky dotted with clouds. Clara read the exciting tales of romance or Sci-Fi. And in that moment,
Clara never wanted to leave.
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Oooookay. New book, new ideas. Out of the books I have up right now, tell me, which is your favorite character? Elise Frost from AOT, Erika Dennis from DW, Nathaniel Clay from X Men, Clara Hawk from this story, Mias Moore from Over a Century Ago, or my new story, the Black Shadow Alchemist, Scarlett Reems.
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~ Saturnthehero