Snippet #2448656

Alice was trying very, very hard to not touch everything she saw, if only to check to see if it would disappear. Her fingers ran over the marble of the room like if she touched it to quickly or with too much pressure everything would crumble to dust. She was, quite frankly, living in one of her dreams, after all. Alice was just about to spark up a conversation with one of the ladies in waiting, one she had met briefly during her training as the Champion and liked to talk to the sentient flowers just as much as the non-sentient ones. That made her very nice in Alice's opinion, because sometimes the flowers that couldn't talk got lonely and people needed to be more mindful of their feelings too, even if they were mute. Though, her foot didn't even get the opportunity to move because Wendy leaned over and spoke to her at that exact moment.

"The White Queen must be quite impressive. And you, you're the Champion here! I don't think I ever congratulated you for doing the kind of work you did, so I will do so now. You were an excellent Hero, and all on your own. Very inspiring. Three cheers for you." Alice smiled at Wendy as her ever-kind flatmate gave her a thumbs-up.

"I simply did what was best for Wonderland. If their was a vile beast making the inhabitants of Neverland suffer, you would probably do the same," Alice whispered back to her friend before turning back to the arches and columns of the Palace. She ran her hands over the white surface of a table once before looking at it sadly and muttering a sorry. Her fingers, it seemed, had not been cleaned since before her trip down the portal and the trip over to the palace had been quite a dirty one, leaving her hands a bit less spotless than they should.

Alice was about to run off to find a bathroom and apologize more thoroughly to the poor table when a she heard the tale-tell thumping of two feet on the ground and the always-worried voice of the white rabbit.

"My Queen I really don't- I don't think it is the best idea- Miss please disregard my rudeness but your grace, please keep your decorum!" The rabbit said, causing Alice to look to the door, where The White Queen was positively rushing to Alice. Her dress was crumpled in her hands and her shoes were clacking against the floor, but she still looked as graceful as ever. The brilliant gold crown of Wonderland still sat atop her white hair and her skin was slightly flushed with her apparent happiness, but it was still the stark white-that-wasn't-as-stark-as-the-hatter's-skin white that she remembered.

The Queen enveloped Alice in a hug that reminded of the hugs that tv-show teenagers always gave each other after a long time without seeing one another, but somehow more graceful. The White Rabbit was right behind her, muttering about how she should try to keep her pace steady and how it wasn't proper for a queen to greet her subjects in such a rowdy way.

"And you, Alice, you are late. Very late!" The rabbit said, and Alice, now out of the embrace, sank to the balls of her feet to grab the watch the Rabbit was brandishing away from him, causing a loud gasp.

"And now you'll never know, will you?" Alice said with a smile before placing the watch onto the table. "And, your grace, I have something I need your help with. Normally I wouldn't wish to bother you with my petty desires, but this is...this is more important. This is Wendy, and this is Peter," Alice pointed out her friends quickly before remembering she had forgotten to bow. She corrected herself and curtsied.

"Dear Alice, you are my Champion. We are passed the formalities, are we not? Now, I'm sure I can help your friends in some way, but for now we must celebrate your return! Oh, it will be glorious," The White Queen assured Alice in a calm tone before telling the Rabbit to clear any meetings she had for the day.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be your grace, but I really must insist on your help presently. You see, Peter isn't from Wonderland, nor is he from the mortal world. He's from a place called Neverland and I-I messed up. I meant to send Peter back to his home but I ended up here instead and I have to right my error," Alice said quickly, looking at the Queen with as much heart as she could manage.

"I didn't realize this was so important. I'm sure we can right any issues, though. Come. March is preparing dinner and all of my potion items are set out. I was meddling earlier," The queen giggled like this was funny and Alice smiled with her, knowing she found joy in anything out of the ordinary. Alice followed after the figure of the Queen and stepped back only long enough to warn Wendy and Peter to duck before she was off again, into the kitchens.

The Hare seemed in a pretty well mood, only throwing one bowl over Alice's head, and that bowl was plastic and didn't shatter when it hit the ground. Alice picked it up carefully and placed it on the bar just as the White Queen began to meddle with the various items in front of her. "Well, how many I help the friends of my Champion?" the White Queen said before looking expectantly towards Peter.