"Was the White Queen doing fine?" Catherine asked.
Afterwards, they had gotten food, water, and any other materials, but the sun had already set, and they were all tired from a day of walking. They set up a tent on the outskirts of the forest, but still close enough to the village by the two castles that if they needed help, they could just scream and the people would be alerted of a problem.
"The White Queen was fine, she just lives in a backwards in time," Hatta said curtly.
"She goes through time backwards, that's why she was crying before we had even explained to her that Jest wasn't here," Alice explained. "It's also why she knew of a disturbance before it happened."
"She was also the one who ordered to steal the heart of the Queen of Hearts?" Cath asked, slightly miffed.
"Yes, Jest was supposed to steal your heart, but obviously that was not the case," Hatta replied dryly, his purples eyes narrowing.
"Nice to know you talk to me now," Cath said monotonously.
"Only because I have nothing better," Hatta drawled.
"Have you two ever got along?" Alice inquired with an exasperated expression.
"They never stop bickering. It's quite irritating. Even when they met, Hatta was jealous of Cath," Raven explained enigmatically.
"What do you mean jealous?" Alice prompted curiously.
"Yes Raven, what do you mean jealous?" Cath provoked, her mocking smile saying a thousand words.
"It's none of your business as far as I'm concerned," Hatta snapped. "You already know enough Ms. Pinkerton."
"You don't seem to know enough though Sir Hatter," Cath retorted viciously.
"I know enough to say you didn't deserve Jest," Hatta stated.
"And you did?" Cath asked incredulously.
"At least I wasn't the one who killed him," Hatta retaliated, his glare full of contempt.
"I did not get him killed," Cath retorted, a weak attempt and she knew it.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night Your Majesty. Raven might be able to forgive you, but I will never," Hatta's expression turned dark and his tone scornful.
"Well if you hadn't thrown those pumpkin seeds in Sir Peter's yard the Jabberwock would've never been a problem! Sir Peter would've never been a threat," Cath cried out, tears welling in her eyes, because no matter what she said, it was her fault. She went through the door and sealed their fate.
"You've lost your spark Catherine, even you know it was your fault," Hatta sneered, glaring at the pitiful girl.
"Enough! Stop. I don't know what happened, but you two need to stop," Alice intervened, however, Cath found her anger rejuvenated, and the Queen of Hearts' heartless nature brought back for just a moment. He was right, it was her fault, but that didn't give him the right to taunt her mercilessly about it, because he didn't come out of the whole event unscathed and innocent either, that was very much apparent from his words towards her. It was in that spontaneous flurry of anger and frustration that Cath started stalking towards Hatta with a dangerous gleam.
"No, Hatta listen, I don't know what your relationship with Jest was, but that does not give you the right to insult me. Do you think I don't blame myself all the time for going through the door? Do you think I walked away from that affair with my head high and a smile on my face? Jest had my heart and soul, and he still does. Whatever you say to me won't matter now because I regret that decision of mine so very much. I might've been the one who chose to go through the door, but right now, you're digging your own grave with this vendetta, and I will not be the one to pull you out once you realize it's too late to save yourself from your own guilt," Cath's eyes flashed with hatred, and the venom in her tone was unmistakable.
"There's no more need for this," Alice reprimanded and pushed Cath back, who allowed herself to be pushed back down on the grass. Raven had at some point, transformed and stood, his stance tense and ready to intervene if it got too out of hand.
Cath didn't care, and she glowered at Hatta for the rest of the night, which Hatta returned with equal ferociousness. The tension was soon too much that Alice called it a night and Raven transformed back before flying to a perch so he could sleep. Cath and Hatta got ready to sleep too, moving as far away from each other as they tucked in for the night.
Cath wasn't sure if her words got to Hatta, but she meant every single word. Hatta was ignoring his own association with Jest's murder, but she was not fooled. He was deflecting his own guilt, and was killing himself from the inside out, just as she was now. But Hatta did not seem to realize that, and Cath could care less. She would not help him, just as she said. She would not be his way out of the quicksand. She would not help him out of his own grave since he was not helping her out of her own.
💘
"So this is the Treacle Well?" Alice asked, trying to desperately diffuse the tension.
"Yes. I wonder if the drawings are still here," Cath mumbled, her eyes scanning the ivy-covered walls.
"The Sisters always take down pictures. I doubt ours are still here," Hatta said flatly.
"I'm sorry, did I ask for your opinion?" Cath shot back in irritation.
Hatta didn't respond, just went to the well and called for the Sisters. "Elsie, Lacie, Tillie, we've come to ask about Time."
"Hello Hatta, it's nice to see you not mad," A girl with a pixie cut climbed out, which Cath remembered as Elsie.
"We don't give without payment remember?" Lacie came out next with her ankle long hair.
"You of all people should remember that, you've come here the most," Tillie was the last, her hair going down the middle of her back.
"Payment?" Alice asked nervously.
"It's always something the person wouldn't mind losing, remember?" Catherine whispered.
"Ah," Alice had a pained expression. "You traded your heart to them, which means your heart was useless to you."
Cath stayed silent and just watched as the Sisters chatted with Hatta. He seemed to be getting more uncomfortable by the second, which Catherine found amusing in a sadistic way.
"Look, Sisters, we're here to ask why you sent us all that prophecy, and where Time is so we can fulfill it," Hatta said firmly.
"We'll tell you if you all give us five minutes of your time," Tillie said with a hollow smile. Catherine shivered, remembering the last time she was here, Jest had kept her grounded through it all. So who would keep her grounded now?
Hatta released a puff of exasperation, but nodded all the same, and took out his pocket watch, pushing the minute hand five minutes ahead. Cath felt a weird, breezing sensation, as if she'd lost something important, but not enough of it to worry. So her Time had been taken too when Hatta moved the hand, and she suspected the same for Raven and Alice.
"Now, before we lead you to Time, we must tell you a story," Lacie said, sitting down with what could've been considered as excitement.
"Thank you for the offer, but we're okay-." Hatta started, but Elsie interrupted him with a shake of her head.
"It'll tell you why you are here, and help you figure out how to save the Martyr," Elsie said. "Your story has always started with The Murderer, The Martyr, The Monarch, The Mad. But ours started way before there was such a thing as you."
"The Murderer, the Martyr, the Monarch, the Mad
Their tales had ended but now they will rise.
Through Alice an ending will solve all their plights.
The hopeless now hopeful, the bonds now reborn
And they travel through Wonderland to save their one own
Live backwards through destiny, find Time by themselves.
They'll lift away the curse, they forced upon themselves
Let them unwind Fate, let the tale unfold,
As they search for an ending that before was untold."
"Your stories had ended, allowing Alice's to start, but she never finished her story. Now it has allowed you to finish it, with a more desirable ending," Tillie continued. "But you can only achieve that if you know how to unwind Fate."
"We three were triplets once upon a time, playing by a well where we would grab water from," In frightening unison, all of them said everything like they'd practiced telling this story multiple times before. Cath could feel however, with an eerie certainty, that this was the first time their story had been told.
"Time hadn't liked us living like that. So we died one day, together, falling through the well. It was a painless death, and we all awoke one day in the Forgotten.
"Time soon decided, however, that it would grant us a second chance, not as living, but as Fate. It told us that if we exchanged living in the Forgotten, we could play together forever. If we stopped living off of being forgotten, and instead, lived off of offerings others gave, we could live as Fate itself. The Three Fates, it said, with an amusing tone. The Sisters were what we were dubbed as afterwards though.
"We agreed to the offer, and Time had us transported to a small part of the Looking Glass Maze. There, it made us the Treacle Well, and we have lived here since. We play and draw, prophesy and chant, and let Fate guide our travelers through the maze.
"Every time you give us one of your belongings that you no longer need, we live off of those offerings. If we were to stop gaining things from people who pass through the Looking Glass Maze, we would fade out of existence and return to the Forgotten, because we would be forgotten again.
"The key to unwinding Fate is not letting us tie your knots again, but stopping us from tying the knots if you do not like where we cut your strings.
"To save the Martyr, you can't just make him unforgettable. If it's a fact that he's died, you have to have him live off of something rather than being forgotten, just as how the living lives off of Time."
The silence after the story was deathly. The four of them had been rendered to confusion and a strange sense of understanding on a deeper level than they should be. It was hard for Cath to explain, but she knew what the Sisters were talking about. It still didn't solve how they were supposed to save Jest however, all it did was make her understand how Time and the Sisters tied into everything. But she could only guess how they would complete their fate and save Jest.
Suddenly, all three voidless eyes turned to Alice. Alice flinched in surprise, and averted her gaze to the ground, the sky, the walls, anywhere but the Sisters.
"Alice, you are the moving piece that will determine all your fate. Your choice will see whether the sacrifice is big, or not." Lacie spoke in a stringy tone, like the story had taken all of her energy.
"'Through Alice an ending will solve all their plights.'" Elsie stated, firmly even with her weak tone.
"You are the key Alice, and it'll be down to your choice whether your curse is a blessing, or a true setback," Tillie explained enigmatically.
"Come now, Time awaits for no one," Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie all disappeared down the well, and when Raven, Cath, Hatta, and Alice peeked down, the Treacle had disappeared and in its place was a spiral staircase that lead down to the abyss.
"You ok?" Cath whispered to Alice, who looked a little shaken from the special attention.
"Yes...I'm fine," Alice replied, her voice wavering with unmistakable tension. Cath did not push it though, because there was nothing she could do.
But as much as the Sisters were an enigma, they had shared valuable information that would, in the long run, help them. Cath knew that much. That was why she was the first to enter the well and head down the stairs to what would hopefully lead towards Time.