The Tea Time

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It’s hard to believe a minute ago we were about to be bludgeoned to death by a guy and his mallet when all three of us are now sitting around a small table having tea and snacks.

…Well, hard to believe if you don’t look around us at all the rubble and blatant destruction that happened when he smashed the ceiling in.

After the aftermath of his entry, the tea table was missing a leg and had to be propped over some books. I’m sure Zuria was annoyed, but her face barely showed any emotion as it was, so who could tell?

I should also say she wasn’t the one that suggested a tea break, mind you.

It was this guy that called himself Pierce.

Apparently, just like Zuria, he’s a devoted follower of the rules of the land, and one of the rules is to have tea at the same time every day. Tea Time ‘o Clock, they said. No specified number for the hour. For a place filled with clocks, time seemed like an entirely different concept in Wonderland.

He sipped his cup and winced. Dumbass burned his tongue.

I glared at him, and he looked at me the same, putting down his cup. I thought he was going to address me, but without taking his eyes away from me, he addressed Zuria instead.

“...Oi. White Rabbit Spade.”

Zuria’s ears twitched and he continued.

“What’s the deal here?” He pointed his gloved finger straight at me. “Why’d you pick this stupid looking, clueless girl as the next Alice Spade?”

Wow. I could feel the vein pop on my forehead.

“What did you call me, lettuce head?”

I admit it wasn’t my best insult. Hell, he wasn’t even insulted.

Zuria sighed.

“...I picked Alice because she’s the right person for the role.”

She said this and took another sip of her tea. I knew she was talking about my sister, though.

Pierce leaned back on his chair.

“You didn’t train her, you didn’t give her a weapon, you didn’t tell her who or what she’s fighting, you didn’t tell her about the land… just what did you do over there for an entire year? Was the Other World so appealing you forgot about your role until the last second?”

The Other World, huh. That has to be my world, I thought. I guess for him, my world is the secondary place.

Zuria simply looked at the cup in her hands with sadness.

“The Other World… is as different from ours as you can imagine. Alice led a very different life there - a peaceful one. Convincing a girl with a perfect life to come along and help an entire kingdom she’s never heard of - convince her to risk her life for it, no less, isn’t exactly an easy job.”

Pierce was quiet, quietly chewing on his tea spoon. Zuria continued.

“...Yet Alice agreed to do it anyway. The moment she heard we were in danger, she immediately asked how she could be of help. It was this kindness of hers that made me realize… I made the right choice.”

Her forlorn look into her reflection in her cup stung a little.

Even if she weren’t talking about my sister, I knew she was definitely not talking about me.

But Pierce didn’t know that.

Which is why he looked at me incredulously.

Before he could open his mouth and question us any more, I decided to interrogate him.

“Yeah, see? So all we did back home was fool around for an entire year. Is that what you want to hear?”

“A-Alice—!” Zuria tried to interrupt me, jolting out of her melancholic episode with a slight blush on her face.

Pierce frowned.

“You shouldn’t admit to that so easily. Especially not to a Clover like me.”

“Well, like I said, I really didn’t learn anything for the past year, so would you mind explaining to me what’s the deal with the Clovers and the Spades?”

I could feel Zuria looking at me. I had no idea what face she was making, but it couldn’t have been a happy one.

But what could I do? Every time I asked her a question, she gave me a vague answer and I’d only end up with more questions instead. This cool looking asshole was my best bet for now, as much as I hated to admit it.

He sneered, nodding.

“Alright, I’m a nice guy, I guess I can throw the dumb new Alice a bone if her White Rabbit ain’t cutting it.”

Zuria didn’t react to this, but her ears did perk up when he suddenly put his legs over the table, boots and all.

Also, I realized he stopped calling me “cute” after my damsel in distress routine. Guess he didn’t want to admit I really got to him.

“Okay. Let’s see. The Spades are the followers of Alice,” he began his explanation as he held up a pink macaron. “For years and years, the Spades have summoned an Alice from the Other World to help gather other Suits to join their cause, and—”

“Hold on,” I interrupted him. “Suits?”

He let out the most annoying, exaggerated long sigh I’ve ever heard.

“Yeah, Suits. Suits are like… like her, the White Rabbit,” he said, pointing at Zuria. “She’s the White Rabbit Suit.”

“Huh? I thought she was the White Rabbit Spade?”

“Bwahahaha!”

He suddenly started laughing, and it annoyed both me and Zuria.

“Every time, man! Every time I think you can’t possibly know any less than you do, you go and prove me wrong!”

“S-Shut up,” I said, annoyed, but not as angry as I normally would have because I know he could still bash my head in if he wanted.

After his laughter passed and he caught his breath again, he continued.

“Alright, alright. Where was I? Oh, right. So, in Wonderland, everyone has magic, yeah? But some more than others. And sometimes, when your magic is really strong, you get an artifact. This artifact means you’re a Suit. A suit is like a role, and it comes with special power that only that role can do.”

“It’s like a role in a play,” Zuria chimed in, putting it in words I could understand.

Pierce nodded.

“So this girl here, her Suit - that is, her role, is the White Rabbit. That means nobody else in Wonderland can be the White Rabbit. Incidentally, I’m the Hedgehog Suit.”

“Hedgehog!?”

I was surprised because it sounded lame as hell to me, but I think he thought I was shocked that it sounded so cool, since he looked kinda proud at my reaction.

“Hell yeah. The one and only, baby.”

Eugh.

“Suits are roles that only a selected few get to play,” Zuria decided to help, putting her empty cup down on the table. “It usually means they excel at magic, which is why they’re the ones that get recruited into the factions. Historically, White Rabbit Suits tend to join the Spades, therefore, they become White Rabbit Spades.”

“Huh…”

“That’s right,” Pierce said, pointing to his neon-green armband with the Clover symbol on it. “I’m the Hedgehog Clover, myself.”

“...So if you had joined the Spades, you’d be the Hedgehog Spade, then?”

“That’s right.”

Phew, I thought to myself, placing a hand on my chest with relief. I’m glad I’m not on the same team as some lame hedgehog.

“Hey! What’s that face for!?”

He called me out immediately.

“The Clovers aren’t our enemy, Alice,” Zuria suddenly said.

I whipped my head to look at her so fast.

“Excuse me!? This guy was trying to kill us like five minutes ago!”

“Kill you?” Pierce said, offended. “I was trying to test you!”

“You asked where I wanted to die!”

“Pshaw,” he said, dismissing me with his hand.

God, this guy annoyed me. He was so cool and funny and for what! I couldn’t even laugh at his jokes because I’m supposed to hate him, I guess! And what if he does kill me!?

Zuria gave me a small smile, probably feeding off my distress, I imagine.

“Just as the Spades are followers of Alice, the Clovers are followers of the Mad Hatter.”

“...Huh?”

There it was. Another name I’ve never heard before.

Zuria sighed, saying the next part with some hesitation and averting her eyes.

“They have… a complicated love-hate relationship with us Spades.”