Merlin fic: Wonderland (2/?)
Title: Wonderland (2/?)
Author: dk323
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen, Nimueh, Morgana
Spoilers: Takes place post-S2
Disclaimer: The show Merlin is property of the BBC. Don’t own Alice in Wonderland either. No money is being made.
Summary: Merlin finds himself in Wonderland, but the situation gets even more complicated when Arthur follows after him.
Chapter One
~ * ~
“You do realize that we’re not complete strangers,” Pendragon informed him after Merlin had his fill of the sweet food on the table.
He hadn’t realized until then that he really had been hungry. Apparently ending up in a different world did wonders for one’s appetite.
Hatter was sleeping in his chair now, his feet crossed up on the table and his arms folded about his chest, with his absurd hat drooping down past his forehead. The mouse named Gwen - Merlin still didn’t know what they meant by her being reborn - was perched on top of the Hatter’s hat. She was peering at him, a faint note of disapproval on her face, though she also appeared curious as well. It was certainly better than before when she looked frustrated with him for not meeting her expectations.
Earlier, Hatter had taken his long beard off and had managed throw it on to the roof of his home that was just behind him. Hatter’s home was a little bigger than a cottage and the windows were wide open. For some inexplicable reason, cookies were flying out of the windows and then back inside the dwelling in a circular motion of their own accord. Merlin would not be surprised if Hatter, who resembled himself, could possibly have other similarities to Merlin as well. What if he had magic too?
Merlin turned to him, a question in his eyes. “Yes, I mean - Hatter does look like me and then there’s you and even your name…and Morgana, too. Still, no one has told me yet about why I’m even here in the first place. I’m guessing it has something to do with Nimueh, the Red Queen as she is called here. I did fight her once where I came from,” he said all of this rather quickly.
Merlin noticed the blonde smirking at him; his blue eyes alight in amusement. Even Gwen, from her perch atop the hat, was covering her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggles. And could mice even giggle anyway?
“What is so funny?” He asked them, feeling rather put out.
Pendragon shrugged, reaching his hand to grab a chocolate biscuit from a plate in front of him. He popped the biscuit into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it before he said, “You just seemed very intent on your rant. It was a bit amusing. And for you not to have guessed yet…You surely don’t think this is all a coincidence?”
Merlin rubbed the back of his head in thought. No, he would be a blind fool to pass off the resemblances as coincidences. And Gwen being reborn as a mouse…reborn…was rebirth involved somehow?
He shook his head at Pendragon. “No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
The blonde peered at him, pensive, and then he asked him lightly, “First, what is the last significant event that you have experienced - before coming here, that is?”
Merlin looked at him oddly. “Why do you need to know that? This is a different world, isn’t it? What does it matter what happened in my world?”
Pendragon’s blue eyes glittered, piercing Merlin’s own blue eyes. He spoke firmly, “It would be useful for me to know.”
Merlin still looked a bit uncertain, biting his lip, when he became distracted upon seeing Hatter, still asleep, fading in and out like a flickering light. Gwen had made her way down to the table at some point - before he started disappearing most likely - and Pendragon held out his hand for her. She situated herself inside his palm and he lifted his hand, depositing the mouse on to his shoulder. Gwen stood on his shoulder, content to play around with a blonde lock of his hair.
“Is Hatter supposed to be doing that?” Merlin inquired, pointing at him.
Pendragon waved his hand dismissively. “That’s nothing new. He’s only meditating or something, I’m not sure. He didn’t do a very good job of explaining it.”
“So Hatter does have magic?”
“Of course he does!” Pendragon confirmed, looking at Merlin like he were crazy for even asking it. “I certainly didn’t enchant those blasted cookies to fly out the window.”
“Oh…well, that makes sense,” Merlin remarked. He definitely couldn’t see the blonde deciding to enchant cookies to fly for no discernible reason.
“We are getting off topic here. If you could just tell me, it would help,” the blonde told me, looking at him expectantly.
Merlin swallowed. The last significant event…setting loose the Dragon, the search for his father, his father dying, and the knowledge that he, Merlin, was now the last Dragonlord. It was nearing a month now since all that had occurred. It still hurt him to think of it; much less discuss the matter with others.
“There was a Dragon attacking the kingdom and--”
Pendragon interrupted him, “Ah, the Dragon you set loose,” he put in.
Merlin stared at him, aghast. “How did you know about that?” he demanded.
But the blonde continued on as if Merlin hadn’t spoken, “I was quite upset with you when you deigned to tell me what had transpired. That is, after revealing the truth of your magic to me.”
Merlin narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?” he demanded once again.
“Oh dear,” Gwen murmured, clasping her little mouse hands together anxiously.
Pendragon appeared quite calm though, taking Merlin’s reaction in stride. “Hatter told you that Guinevere had been reborn, remember?”
Merlin nodded slowly, still uneasy.
Gwen spoke up then. “I am the Gwen you are thinking of, Merlin. I once was the Lady Morgana’s maidservant. I have been reborn numerous times since the days of Camelot.”
Merlin stared at her and then at Pendragon.
“So, you’re--? How is that even possible?” He uttered in shock.
If Merlin thought this world, Wonderland, was bizarre enough; then he really had no idea.
Pendragon explained to him, “It is a process called reincarnation, Merlin. This allows a person to die and then be reborn some time later. It could be years later or a few months later, you never can know. But yes, in my very first life, my original life I suppose, I was Arthur Pendragon, Prince and later King of Camelot. I have been reborn so many times since then that I can’t recall the number. But somehow this time, I was reborn here in Wonderland. If I had been living in your world, where I should have been reborn, I believe it would now be the year 2010.”
Merlin didn’t know what to think or what to even say. This was all just too much for him to take in. Reincarnation - Arthur and Gwen had been reborn? It was a concept that would take some time for him to grasp, most certainly.
“And then Hatter? Morgana?” Merlin wanted to know.
Pendragon - Arthur - Merlin wasn’t sure how to think of him anymore. Future Arthur, maybe? - said, “Morgana is a reincarnation like Gwen and me. Hatter is you from the future, but well, his situation is different.”
Merlin looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean - different?”
Future Arthur smiled a little too widely for Merlin’s liking. “If you’ve wondered why Hatter - future you - seems mad…mad as a Hatter, actually. It could be why he chose that name this time around…well, other than him being a hat-maker here.” Now he was grinning.
Merlin just resisted giving him a sharp glare. He didn’t know if he had room in his mind to contemplate that his future would lead to becoming whatever Hatter was…
“Hatter’s immortal, so that’s something to look forward to, I guess?” He finished weakly. The blonde was doing a poor job of suppressing his amusement at revealing this to Merlin.
“Does that mean that I’m immortal now?” He wondered.
Pendragon shrugged. “I don’t know,” he told him, and he seemed sincere about it. “Do you feel immortal? Have you ever fallen out of a tree and - I don’t know -” he waved his hand. “--didn’t die?” He asked him, his eyes bright and merry.
Gwen was giggling so hard at that moment that she almost lost her balance on the blonde’s shoulder. Pendragon quickly righted her and then she decided to try climbing up on to his head, so that soon, she was sitting atop his blond hair, twisting manageable locks of hair into mini-braids.
Merlin sunk into his chair, arms crossed, looked quite sullen. Did they have to laugh at him? And it wasn’t even him…exactly? And no, he didn’t feel immortal as Future Arthur had put it. There were near misses where he could have died - childhood sickness, poisoning and the like - but as far as he knew, there had been no defining incident that made Merlin think: “Well, I must be immortal.”
“I dislike you very intensely right now,” he muttered.
Pendragon appeared somewhat apologetic, schooling his features into a somber look. “I’m sorry, really I am. But it is rather odd to see you again. It has been lifetimes for me since I saw you like you are now. We could all use a good laugh now and again…”
Merlin changed the subject abruptly, “So I did something unfortunate to Morgana not that long ago--”
The blonde recalled, cutting into his words. He looked like he was trying to remember a long ago event. “…was that during the knights of Medir business? You told me that you poisoned Morgana to save Camelot,” He told him, nodding at Hatter.
“Er, yes that,” Merlin confirmed, a bit uncertainly.
He was surprised to see this future Arthur to be taking the whole matter so well. Then again, he must have found out in a previous lifetime or maybe Merlin had told him once he became King. It probably was old news to him, and if the future Merlin worded it to assure Arthur that it was for the sake of Camelot; then the poisoning of his sister would have been easier to accept.
Reassured at that thought, Merlin pressed on, “And then her reincarnation pushes me down a hole that leads into another world. I couldn’t tell if she has forgiven me. She didn’t seem especially bitter with me as far as I could discern. Do you know if she has forgiven me? Or has she been reborn so many times already that she has forgotten the whole incident?”
“She pushed you because she was impatient, most likely,” Pendragon said with a shrug.
“And so…the poisoning? I didn’t mean to do it…I wish I could tell her that, to make her understand why I did that to her.”
Future Arthur smiled at him. “Yes, Morgana does forgive you…eventually. And well, in one of her lives…”
But Hatter woke up quite suddenly, removing his legs from the table. A dull thud was heard as his boots hit the ground and the table was disturbed momentarily due to the abrupt movement.
He interrupted the blonde before he could finish. “Did I give you permission to tell my life story?” He said sharply.
Merlin looked from his defensive future self to the future Arthur who seemed only slightly chagrined at getting caught out. “What happens in one of Morgana’s lives?” He asked them.
“Hatter, would you like to do the honours?” Pendragon asked him pleasantly, a hint of mischief in his blue eyes.
Hatter’s expression was tight. He really didn’t look like he wanted to divulge the details.
“It’s all right if you don’t want to tell me…” Merlin said earnestly, not wanting to aggravate his future self any further.
Hatter sighed, shaking his head. “No, no. You of all people should know. You and I are one and the same after all,” he said, smiling softly at Merlin. “I marry Morgana in one of her lives. As I am immortal, time moves a bit differently for me and-no, Pendragon, I will not tell him everything,” He said sharply to the blonde as if Pendragon had spoken silently to him.
Pendragon turned to Merlin and he informed him, “You see, when you grow up…”
“I hate you,” Hatter muttered, but did little else to stop the blonde’s words.
Future Arthur continued on, “…when you grow up, you get a bit lonely. Being immortal can do that to you, so you seek companionship. Sometimes there were gaps of years where I hadn’t been reborn, and you had to look elsewhere for someone to spend time with. And luckily, you mastered a de-aging spell that kept you as young as you wanted to be. And so you went along and had a number of relationships here and there…” He paused, reaching for the teapot to pour himself more tea into his cup.
Now Merlin could have seen Arthur being the type to woo women left and right, but himself? He never set out to do that, but what did he know about what the future would bring? Although, it did make a sort of sense that he would feel lonely once he experienced the effect of immortality…that he would live on while everyone he knew died. Merlin vainly hoped that whatever had led him to become immortal in the future, he could avoid somehow. He didn’t feel ready to deal with such a burdensome gift…or curse, more like it.
Hatter gave a loud sigh and he mumbled something too soft to be heard.
Unashamedly, Pendragon continued on, “So, when I was reborn in Wonderland…Hatter followed me here because he didn’t want to leave me on my own. And then Gwen was reborn here too… Morgana-I think she came with Hatter from the other world.”
“She agreed to help me,” Hatter contributed.
“I bet she did,” Pendragon jibed.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this unscathed…” He warned Pendragon, but his words did not hold much intent.
Pendragon was undeterred and resumed speaking, “Anyway, Nimueh and Freya - the Red and White Queens -- are reincarnations as well and the gentleman that Hatter is, he managed to gain the affections of both Queens. And well…”
Merlin nodded, understanding. He looked to Hatter. “You made Nimueh mad. I saw the moving images in that circular room when I first arrived.”
“I am such an idiot,” Hatter moaned.
“That, was never up for debate,” Pendragon retorted good-naturedly. He turned back to Merlin. “And so, I’m sure you know that Hatter chose the White Queen, Freya, over the Red Queen. Nimueh was rather unhappy about that and she was jealous of her sister who was a kinder Queen than she could ever be. Everything went to hell in Wonderland as Nimueh sought an outlet for her frustration that Hatter did not choose her.”
“So you brought me here to fix the situation? Isn’t it supposed to be other way around? The future fixing the past? And not the past fixing the future?” He wondered. “And Nimueh and I hated each other. I can’t imagine her ever fancying me…”
Hatter said regretfully, “I apologize for giving you such a responsibility especially when it is my mistake, but it has been foretold that you would be the one -- at this point in time in your life -- to save Wonderland.” He pointedly did not delve further into Nimueh fancying him.
Merlin guessed it was a bit of an unpleasant subject for Hatter. Merlin himself was feeling rather miffed by it. Him and Nimueh? Really?
“You already went through this, right? If you’re me in the future? You could just tell me what to do and--”
But before Merlin could finish what he was saying, Morgana was rushing up to the table, out of breath, and upon reaching Hatter; she gripped his shoulder tightly.
Merlin was startled at Morgana’s anxious look, her face far too pale than normal. Pendragon looked faintly worried while Gwen was fretful enough for the both of them.
Hatter turned to her and he asked her urgently, “Morgana? What is the matter?”
“The Red Queen…she has Prince Arthur. He jumped into the hole when he shouldn’t have! You know what that means… this could all go very badly. And Nimueh said that she’s coming to see you,” She explained in a hurry.
Merlin was alarmed. Why did Arthur have to do that? But, of course, he should have known the prince wouldn’t have been content to let Merlin go off alone. That he would want to make sure Merlin hadn’t been sent to his death or something close to it…
Then he recalled the Future Arthur’s words about how the future Merlin followed him to Wonderland because he didn’t want to leave Arthur on his own. Merlin decided it went both ways for him and Arthur - then, now and in the future - they looked out for each other.
“He didn’t have a destination attached to him because, unlike Merlin, he was never meant to be here,” Pendragon noted, looking to Hatter for confirmation.
Hatter nodded, looking thoughtful. He spoke to Morgana. “Thank you for telling me. Now you best go. I’ll handle it.”
Morgana inclined her head at him. She went to Gwen, still on Arthur's head, and she kissed her softly on her furry head; murmuring a warm greeting. She then acknowledged Merlin and Pendragon.
“The bane of my existence,” she said smoothly to the blonde.
“Wicked Witch of the West,” he shot back, flashing a quick grin at her.
Morgana rolled her eyes at him. “Cinderella!” She countered, smirking at him.
“Oh come on!” Pendragon exclaimed, affronted.
She smiled sweetly at him, and then she left them, her walk hurried as she went off into the forest.
Merlin looked to Hatter. “How are you going to deal with Nimueh?”
Hatter just looked at him rather calmly. “I will deal with her accordingly. You have no need to worry, Merlin.”
But Merlin could not help but worry.
Then Hatter knocked over an empty teapot and he told Gwen to go hide somewhere. Gwen nodded and Pendragon took her off of his head and he set her on the table. She went to the sugar pot that Merlin had first seen her come out of. She looked expectantly at the blonde who took her in one hand and then placed her inside the pot.
Hatter waved his hand over the sugar pot. “There, the spell should keep Nimueh from noticing it.”
He took out two small, clear bottles full of liquid…a potion, perhaps?
“You two - drink this. Quickly,” He advised them, giving Merlin and Pendragon a bottle each.
“What will it do?” Merlin asked.
At the same time, Pendragon had a knowing look in his eye. He knew what it did.
“It’ll keep you both safe. Just, please, drink it,” Hatter nearly pleaded with him.
Uneasily, Merlin opened his bottle, the blonde doing the same beside him. At the same time, they both drank the potion.
And with a jolt, Merlin felt his body beginning to shrink…smaller and smaller…until…
…both he and Pendragon were small enough to fit inside the teapot that Hatter had knocked over. Hatter took one of them in each hand off of their now rather large chairs and he ushered the two of them into the teapot.
Once they were both inside of the teapot and the pot had been righted, his future self told Pendragon, “You know what to do,” he said.
So Merlin and Pendragon sat down beside each other in the teapot. Merlin felt a bit disoriented at his now suddenly smaller size, but the blonde gave him a small smile and put a finger to his lips as a reminder to keep quiet. Merlin restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Being quiet was obvious.
“You know how to get us back to our normal size?” Merlin asked him in a whisper.
Pendragon nodded. “Sure, of course I do,” he assured him. “Don’t worry about it. Like I told you, I grew up in Wonderland - I know my way around here.”
Merlin sighed. He never thought in a million years that he’d be in the company of an alternate version of Arthur - his mind still not being able to make sense of the reincarnation idea. There might have been some similarities, true, to his Arthur, but this future Arthur had gone through so much more than he could ever imagine - multiple lives and being reborn in a particularly mad world that Merlin now was stuck in for the foreseeable future…well, until he saved Wonderland, whatever that entailed. He hoped that his Arthur hadn’t been hurt by the Red Queen and that the both of them could get back to their world, to Camelot, in one piece. That wasn’t too much to ask, right?
They had been shrunk not a moment too soon. A few minutes later, the Red Queen, Nimueh, arrived with a few guards donned in red.
“Hatter,” Nimueh said briskly.
Directing the guards to stay where they were, Nimueh made her way to Hatter, seeming to float over to him. Hatter was still standing at the head of the table, barely moving from his place.
“Yes?” He said innocently.
Nimueh was in front of him now, and she smiled serenely at him, though it was easy to see the falsity of her smile.
“I have someone very curious at my palace. Very curious, indeed.”
“Oh, and who is that? Why come all this way to tell me?” He inquired lightly.
“Oh, but Hatter. I have missed you. I could not resist the opportunity to see you again.”
“Yes. Right,” he said tensely.
She only moved closer to him, eliminating the space between them. Hatter backed away. “You know my feelings. This serves no purpose. Just tell me what you wish to tell me,” he told her, his tone firm.
Nimueh smirked, looking at him in disbelief. “Oh, honestly. I know you already have found out. It will be no news to you. But what I want to know is who exactly the blonde man is. Considering his intriguing resemblance to Pendragon.”
“It’s simply coincidence. It happens! Nothing, it’s nothing. Honestly.”
The Red Queen gave a long-suffering sigh. She reached out her hand to place it over his cheek. “Hatter…Merlin…you’re a poor liar. Is he the original? Is he?” Nimueh inquired.
“I don’t know how you came to that conclusion…” He said, trailing off and appearing to be quite unperturbed by the Queen’s demanding presence.
She gave a long-suffering sigh. Her painted nails scratched at his cheek, just hard enough to leave a fleeting pain, but it wasn’t deep enough to leave a bleeding mark.
Hatter wrenched her hand away from his face. She only smiled coolly, her hand falling easily back at her side.
The Red Queen shrugged. “It’s quite simple, actually,” she explained smoothly to him. “I asked him if he knew of a Merlin, and if he knew that such a man possessed magic. He…didn’t. And the likeliest period of time for him not to know is in the original life -- before he ascended the throne. Otherwise in every life, Arthur Pendragon always knew. It was never a secret. I am not a fool, Hatter. I would have worked it out without your help, you understand.”
“Of course, Nimueh. I always knew you were clever,” Hatter said. It should have been a compliment, but he made it sound like he meant the exact opposite of ‘clever.’
Nimueh’s eyes narrowed, but she waved aside the remark and instead, chose to continue on, “I know you, Hatter. You may think I don’t, but I do. I know that you’re hoping to rescue Prince Arthur, return him to his rightful place. I know quite well what would happen if Arthur never becomes King. Camelot will fall, would it not? And you would not have that on your conscience. But you’re so desperate to save Wonderland as well, aren’t you? No one but you would form the Resistance. Everyone flocks to the man who cannot die -- a natural leader who never wanted to be one in the first place,” At those words, Hatter’s eyes darkened, a somewhat haunted look momentarily visible on his face before he shook himself and the look was gone. His expression now held only mild interest. Nimueh warned him, “Yet, you will heed my words: you will not succeed. I will stop you.”
Hatter did not back down from her warning. “You say that you know me, Nimueh, but I know you too. You still follow the Old Religion, do you not? It would be against the Old Religion to keep Arthur from fulfilling his greater purpose. You would be playing with fire if you keep him here or kill him. That would be incredibly foolish.”
Nimueh appeared unconcerned. “He trespassed on my grounds. No matter if it had been an accident or done on purpose, I will deal with him as I see fit. Old Religion be damned,” she declared resolutely. “Now I do realize if I take you back to the palace, you’ll attempt to rescue him. But I want you where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you stirring up trouble here.”
“My Queen,” Hatter said, the formal address sounding rather like a mockery, “the only thing that I have stirred up as of late is tea. I always try my best to abide by the rules.”
The Red Queen snorted at him in complete disbelief. She turned to the guards and she waved them over.
One of them held a red collar with red rubies embedded all around the piece of jewelry.
Nimueh took the collar from the guard and, unresisting, Hatter let her clasp it around his neck. There was a keyhole in the center of the collar. Hatter could see the keyhole when he peered down at the collar.
He looked to Nimueh who waved the key to unlock the collar teasingly in front of his face. Hatter just stared at her, rather unaffected by the act. He watched as she slipped the key back inside of her dress.
“Don’t you think that this collar is a little too red?” He asked her conversationally.
“Don’t be smart with me,” she retorted. “I know that the collar will only suppress your magic partially. It’s a pity that a device hasn’t been invented yet to prevent you from fully using your magic, but this will have to do,” Nimueh said, looking rather displeased at the lack of such a device.
“Yes, what a pity,” Hatter uttered, quite sarcastically.
Then she smiled widely. “But I can do this--” she said.
Two of the guards restrained Hatter, twisting his arms behind his back, while the third guard administered a needle to Hatter’s neck.
“Nervous, are we?” Hatter taunted Nimueh before the strong sedative kicked in and he went limp.
The Red Queen conjured a stretcher and the guards placed Hatter on top of it. They left Hatter’s dwelling, the stretcher floating along in front of them.
~ * ~
Arthur didn’t know what to think about what the Red Queen, as she had called herself, had asked him. Merlin possessing magic? That didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t possibly be true. And when he had denied that Merlin had magic, the Queen had smiled a bit too creepily for Arthur’s liking.
The prince was certain that he had said the wrong thing. He was beginning to really dislike this place. He just kept digging himself into deeper holes.
He was startled when he heard footsteps coming down the corridor in this dismal, dusty place where all the cells were located. The dungeons weren’t actually that different from the ones back in Camelot. Although, the area allocated for the cells did appear to be a bit bigger here than back home.
Arthur didn’t want to contemplate on why there was need for all those cells… from what he had seen of the Queen, she did seem to be the type to like arresting people simply on a whim.
The footsteps stopped in front of his cell. Arthur looked up to see a man in front of his cell. He had a striking resemblance to Merlin, if it were not for the absurd hat upon his head and the unfamiliar blue waistcoat he was wearing. And he seemed more worldly, maybe, than the Merlin he knew. Arthur could just sense that the man before him had seen a lot in his life.
That still didn’t explain the likeness to Merlin. Then again, the Red Queen had mentioned someone named Pendragon who looked like him. Was it too far-fetched that Merlin had a twin here too?
The man grinned at him. He held a key in his hand. “I have the key,” he announced.
Arthur stared at him.
The strange man waved his hand, wincing as if in pain as he did so, at Arthur’s cell door and the door opened.
The man walked into the cell and he smiled at the blonde. Arthur stood up when he entered. “Hello, I’m Hatter. And you are--?” the man asked.
Arthur sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. “Do you make a habit of walking into the cells of strangers? I suspect you know who I am if you’ve come to see me. Although, I don’t know how you sneaked past the Red Queen…” He wondered.
“I was only trying to be polite,” The man, Hatter, said with a shrug. “Have you heard of me though?”
Arthur then recalled that woman - Morgana or whoever she really was - mentioning Hatter briefly. And later, the Red Queen speaking of a Hatter who had a companion by the name of Pendragon.
“Yeah, someone named Morgana mentioned you… said you were getting madder by the second.”
Hatter didn’t seem offended by being called crazy by another person. “Oh, well, that was rather nice of her,” he remarked idly.
"And the Queen talked of you as well. That you had a companion who looked like me. His name is Pendragon," Arthur told him.
He looked at the other man to see how he took that information. Hatter just smiled vaguely at him, which annoyed Arthur. The prince had a bad feeling that Hatter wasn't telling him everything. Great, just great.
"The Red Queen never tires of talking about me. You would think that she has nothing better to do," Hatter said, appearing rather bemused at the thought.
Then Hatter sat down, his back against the wall. He looked up at Arthur, beckoning him to sit down next to him.
Arthur did so, watching for a moment as Hatter tossed the key from one hand to another. It was then that the blonde noticed the red, ruby-encrusted collar at the man’s neck. There was a keyhole at the front of it. He wondered what the collar was there for. He guessed that the key Hatter had was the one meant to unlock the collar. “So who are you exactly? And do you have magic? The cell door opened after you waved at it.”
Hatter nodded. “Yes, I do have magic. And I told you who I am, didn’t I? I’m here to rescue you, so I hope you can trust me.” He tried to smile reassuringly at Arthur.
The prince wasn’t too sure about taking his word for it, but he had to admit that Hatter’s likeness to Merlin did inspire him to trust the strange man. And he really wanted to get out of this wretched place at any rate.
He told Hatter, “You look like someone I know…I think he’s here - not in this palace - but somewhere else in this place, wherever it is. I came after him despite being warned not to by Morgana.”
“You’re in Wonderland, a different world completely. You’re a long way from home, Arthur Pendragon. I do commend you on your loyalty to this friend of yours,” he praised him.
Arthur gave a small shrug. “I couldn’t leave him on his own,” he only said.
Hatter smiled secretly at him. Arthur was a bit unnerved by the smile.
“I have a small favor to ask of you,” Hatter said to him.
The blonde looked at him expectantly.
~ * ~
Gwen had left the sugar pot when she was certain that the coast was clear. She had checked in on Pendragon and Merlin. She knew just where to look. Hatter had shrunk Pendragon quite a few times, Gwen knew, and usually, he had stuck him in a teapot. Typically, the shrinking had been for fun…a silly game that they played. Though the blonde seemed to like being shrunk - he had said that the change in size had afforded him a different outlook on the world around him. But sometimes Gwen thought that Pendragon was simply bored and being shrunk was an interesting pastime after the constant tea parties.
She had climbed up the teapot via the handle and her brown eyes peered inside the teapot. Gwen quickly averted her eyes, her furry white cheeks blushing pink. She most certainly had not been expecting that.
But at least the two of them seemed to be doing fine - more than fine, actually -- so Gwen took that as impetus to go off into the forest. Sure, it seemed a bit reckless with Hatter gone and the Red Queen always making her presence felt; but Gwen was not one to be scared off that easily. True, she was a mouse in this life and she knew what people thought of mice - that they were frightened of everything.
Gwen certainly wasn’t going to fit into that stereotype. She had been a Queen in the days of Camelot! There was simply no way that she was going to be cowed in this life or any other life, thank you very much.
She wandered through the forest a bit, admiring the colorful flowers around her, when she stopped near a thick tree.
“Hello, love,” A voice greeted her from the tree branch above her.
A grinning, purple striped cat appeared on the branch, gradually forming until she could see the whole cat.
“Lancelot,” Gwen smiled at him. “Oh, it’s good to see you. I have so much to tell you.”
~ * ~
Author: dk323
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen, Nimueh, Morgana
Spoilers: Takes place post-S2
Disclaimer: The show Merlin is property of the BBC. Don’t own Alice in Wonderland either. No money is being made.
Summary: Merlin finds himself in Wonderland, but the situation gets even more complicated when Arthur follows after him.
Chapter One
~ * ~
“You do realize that we’re not complete strangers,” Pendragon informed him after Merlin had his fill of the sweet food on the table.
He hadn’t realized until then that he really had been hungry. Apparently ending up in a different world did wonders for one’s appetite.
Hatter was sleeping in his chair now, his feet crossed up on the table and his arms folded about his chest, with his absurd hat drooping down past his forehead. The mouse named Gwen - Merlin still didn’t know what they meant by her being reborn - was perched on top of the Hatter’s hat. She was peering at him, a faint note of disapproval on her face, though she also appeared curious as well. It was certainly better than before when she looked frustrated with him for not meeting her expectations.
Earlier, Hatter had taken his long beard off and had managed throw it on to the roof of his home that was just behind him. Hatter’s home was a little bigger than a cottage and the windows were wide open. For some inexplicable reason, cookies were flying out of the windows and then back inside the dwelling in a circular motion of their own accord. Merlin would not be surprised if Hatter, who resembled himself, could possibly have other similarities to Merlin as well. What if he had magic too?
Merlin turned to him, a question in his eyes. “Yes, I mean - Hatter does look like me and then there’s you and even your name…and Morgana, too. Still, no one has told me yet about why I’m even here in the first place. I’m guessing it has something to do with Nimueh, the Red Queen as she is called here. I did fight her once where I came from,” he said all of this rather quickly.
Merlin noticed the blonde smirking at him; his blue eyes alight in amusement. Even Gwen, from her perch atop the hat, was covering her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggles. And could mice even giggle anyway?
“What is so funny?” He asked them, feeling rather put out.
Pendragon shrugged, reaching his hand to grab a chocolate biscuit from a plate in front of him. He popped the biscuit into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it before he said, “You just seemed very intent on your rant. It was a bit amusing. And for you not to have guessed yet…You surely don’t think this is all a coincidence?”
Merlin rubbed the back of his head in thought. No, he would be a blind fool to pass off the resemblances as coincidences. And Gwen being reborn as a mouse…reborn…was rebirth involved somehow?
He shook his head at Pendragon. “No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
The blonde peered at him, pensive, and then he asked him lightly, “First, what is the last significant event that you have experienced - before coming here, that is?”
Merlin looked at him oddly. “Why do you need to know that? This is a different world, isn’t it? What does it matter what happened in my world?”
Pendragon’s blue eyes glittered, piercing Merlin’s own blue eyes. He spoke firmly, “It would be useful for me to know.”
Merlin still looked a bit uncertain, biting his lip, when he became distracted upon seeing Hatter, still asleep, fading in and out like a flickering light. Gwen had made her way down to the table at some point - before he started disappearing most likely - and Pendragon held out his hand for her. She situated herself inside his palm and he lifted his hand, depositing the mouse on to his shoulder. Gwen stood on his shoulder, content to play around with a blonde lock of his hair.
“Is Hatter supposed to be doing that?” Merlin inquired, pointing at him.
Pendragon waved his hand dismissively. “That’s nothing new. He’s only meditating or something, I’m not sure. He didn’t do a very good job of explaining it.”
“So Hatter does have magic?”
“Of course he does!” Pendragon confirmed, looking at Merlin like he were crazy for even asking it. “I certainly didn’t enchant those blasted cookies to fly out the window.”
“Oh…well, that makes sense,” Merlin remarked. He definitely couldn’t see the blonde deciding to enchant cookies to fly for no discernible reason.
“We are getting off topic here. If you could just tell me, it would help,” the blonde told me, looking at him expectantly.
Merlin swallowed. The last significant event…setting loose the Dragon, the search for his father, his father dying, and the knowledge that he, Merlin, was now the last Dragonlord. It was nearing a month now since all that had occurred. It still hurt him to think of it; much less discuss the matter with others.
“There was a Dragon attacking the kingdom and--”
Pendragon interrupted him, “Ah, the Dragon you set loose,” he put in.
Merlin stared at him, aghast. “How did you know about that?” he demanded.
But the blonde continued on as if Merlin hadn’t spoken, “I was quite upset with you when you deigned to tell me what had transpired. That is, after revealing the truth of your magic to me.”
Merlin narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?” he demanded once again.
“Oh dear,” Gwen murmured, clasping her little mouse hands together anxiously.
Pendragon appeared quite calm though, taking Merlin’s reaction in stride. “Hatter told you that Guinevere had been reborn, remember?”
Merlin nodded slowly, still uneasy.
Gwen spoke up then. “I am the Gwen you are thinking of, Merlin. I once was the Lady Morgana’s maidservant. I have been reborn numerous times since the days of Camelot.”
Merlin stared at her and then at Pendragon.
“So, you’re--? How is that even possible?” He uttered in shock.
If Merlin thought this world, Wonderland, was bizarre enough; then he really had no idea.
Pendragon explained to him, “It is a process called reincarnation, Merlin. This allows a person to die and then be reborn some time later. It could be years later or a few months later, you never can know. But yes, in my very first life, my original life I suppose, I was Arthur Pendragon, Prince and later King of Camelot. I have been reborn so many times since then that I can’t recall the number. But somehow this time, I was reborn here in Wonderland. If I had been living in your world, where I should have been reborn, I believe it would now be the year 2010.”
Merlin didn’t know what to think or what to even say. This was all just too much for him to take in. Reincarnation - Arthur and Gwen had been reborn? It was a concept that would take some time for him to grasp, most certainly.
“And then Hatter? Morgana?” Merlin wanted to know.
Pendragon - Arthur - Merlin wasn’t sure how to think of him anymore. Future Arthur, maybe? - said, “Morgana is a reincarnation like Gwen and me. Hatter is you from the future, but well, his situation is different.”
Merlin looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean - different?”
Future Arthur smiled a little too widely for Merlin’s liking. “If you’ve wondered why Hatter - future you - seems mad…mad as a Hatter, actually. It could be why he chose that name this time around…well, other than him being a hat-maker here.” Now he was grinning.
Merlin just resisted giving him a sharp glare. He didn’t know if he had room in his mind to contemplate that his future would lead to becoming whatever Hatter was…
“Hatter’s immortal, so that’s something to look forward to, I guess?” He finished weakly. The blonde was doing a poor job of suppressing his amusement at revealing this to Merlin.
“Does that mean that I’m immortal now?” He wondered.
Pendragon shrugged. “I don’t know,” he told him, and he seemed sincere about it. “Do you feel immortal? Have you ever fallen out of a tree and - I don’t know -” he waved his hand. “--didn’t die?” He asked him, his eyes bright and merry.
Gwen was giggling so hard at that moment that she almost lost her balance on the blonde’s shoulder. Pendragon quickly righted her and then she decided to try climbing up on to his head, so that soon, she was sitting atop his blond hair, twisting manageable locks of hair into mini-braids.
Merlin sunk into his chair, arms crossed, looked quite sullen. Did they have to laugh at him? And it wasn’t even him…exactly? And no, he didn’t feel immortal as Future Arthur had put it. There were near misses where he could have died - childhood sickness, poisoning and the like - but as far as he knew, there had been no defining incident that made Merlin think: “Well, I must be immortal.”
“I dislike you very intensely right now,” he muttered.
Pendragon appeared somewhat apologetic, schooling his features into a somber look. “I’m sorry, really I am. But it is rather odd to see you again. It has been lifetimes for me since I saw you like you are now. We could all use a good laugh now and again…”
Merlin changed the subject abruptly, “So I did something unfortunate to Morgana not that long ago--”
The blonde recalled, cutting into his words. He looked like he was trying to remember a long ago event. “…was that during the knights of Medir business? You told me that you poisoned Morgana to save Camelot,” He told him, nodding at Hatter.
“Er, yes that,” Merlin confirmed, a bit uncertainly.
He was surprised to see this future Arthur to be taking the whole matter so well. Then again, he must have found out in a previous lifetime or maybe Merlin had told him once he became King. It probably was old news to him, and if the future Merlin worded it to assure Arthur that it was for the sake of Camelot; then the poisoning of his sister would have been easier to accept.
Reassured at that thought, Merlin pressed on, “And then her reincarnation pushes me down a hole that leads into another world. I couldn’t tell if she has forgiven me. She didn’t seem especially bitter with me as far as I could discern. Do you know if she has forgiven me? Or has she been reborn so many times already that she has forgotten the whole incident?”
“She pushed you because she was impatient, most likely,” Pendragon said with a shrug.
“And so…the poisoning? I didn’t mean to do it…I wish I could tell her that, to make her understand why I did that to her.”
Future Arthur smiled at him. “Yes, Morgana does forgive you…eventually. And well, in one of her lives…”
But Hatter woke up quite suddenly, removing his legs from the table. A dull thud was heard as his boots hit the ground and the table was disturbed momentarily due to the abrupt movement.
He interrupted the blonde before he could finish. “Did I give you permission to tell my life story?” He said sharply.
Merlin looked from his defensive future self to the future Arthur who seemed only slightly chagrined at getting caught out. “What happens in one of Morgana’s lives?” He asked them.
“Hatter, would you like to do the honours?” Pendragon asked him pleasantly, a hint of mischief in his blue eyes.
Hatter’s expression was tight. He really didn’t look like he wanted to divulge the details.
“It’s all right if you don’t want to tell me…” Merlin said earnestly, not wanting to aggravate his future self any further.
Hatter sighed, shaking his head. “No, no. You of all people should know. You and I are one and the same after all,” he said, smiling softly at Merlin. “I marry Morgana in one of her lives. As I am immortal, time moves a bit differently for me and-no, Pendragon, I will not tell him everything,” He said sharply to the blonde as if Pendragon had spoken silently to him.
Pendragon turned to Merlin and he informed him, “You see, when you grow up…”
“I hate you,” Hatter muttered, but did little else to stop the blonde’s words.
Future Arthur continued on, “…when you grow up, you get a bit lonely. Being immortal can do that to you, so you seek companionship. Sometimes there were gaps of years where I hadn’t been reborn, and you had to look elsewhere for someone to spend time with. And luckily, you mastered a de-aging spell that kept you as young as you wanted to be. And so you went along and had a number of relationships here and there…” He paused, reaching for the teapot to pour himself more tea into his cup.
Now Merlin could have seen Arthur being the type to woo women left and right, but himself? He never set out to do that, but what did he know about what the future would bring? Although, it did make a sort of sense that he would feel lonely once he experienced the effect of immortality…that he would live on while everyone he knew died. Merlin vainly hoped that whatever had led him to become immortal in the future, he could avoid somehow. He didn’t feel ready to deal with such a burdensome gift…or curse, more like it.
Hatter gave a loud sigh and he mumbled something too soft to be heard.
Unashamedly, Pendragon continued on, “So, when I was reborn in Wonderland…Hatter followed me here because he didn’t want to leave me on my own. And then Gwen was reborn here too… Morgana-I think she came with Hatter from the other world.”
“She agreed to help me,” Hatter contributed.
“I bet she did,” Pendragon jibed.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this unscathed…” He warned Pendragon, but his words did not hold much intent.
Pendragon was undeterred and resumed speaking, “Anyway, Nimueh and Freya - the Red and White Queens -- are reincarnations as well and the gentleman that Hatter is, he managed to gain the affections of both Queens. And well…”
Merlin nodded, understanding. He looked to Hatter. “You made Nimueh mad. I saw the moving images in that circular room when I first arrived.”
“I am such an idiot,” Hatter moaned.
“That, was never up for debate,” Pendragon retorted good-naturedly. He turned back to Merlin. “And so, I’m sure you know that Hatter chose the White Queen, Freya, over the Red Queen. Nimueh was rather unhappy about that and she was jealous of her sister who was a kinder Queen than she could ever be. Everything went to hell in Wonderland as Nimueh sought an outlet for her frustration that Hatter did not choose her.”
“So you brought me here to fix the situation? Isn’t it supposed to be other way around? The future fixing the past? And not the past fixing the future?” He wondered. “And Nimueh and I hated each other. I can’t imagine her ever fancying me…”
Hatter said regretfully, “I apologize for giving you such a responsibility especially when it is my mistake, but it has been foretold that you would be the one -- at this point in time in your life -- to save Wonderland.” He pointedly did not delve further into Nimueh fancying him.
Merlin guessed it was a bit of an unpleasant subject for Hatter. Merlin himself was feeling rather miffed by it. Him and Nimueh? Really?
“You already went through this, right? If you’re me in the future? You could just tell me what to do and--”
But before Merlin could finish what he was saying, Morgana was rushing up to the table, out of breath, and upon reaching Hatter; she gripped his shoulder tightly.
Merlin was startled at Morgana’s anxious look, her face far too pale than normal. Pendragon looked faintly worried while Gwen was fretful enough for the both of them.
Hatter turned to her and he asked her urgently, “Morgana? What is the matter?”
“The Red Queen…she has Prince Arthur. He jumped into the hole when he shouldn’t have! You know what that means… this could all go very badly. And Nimueh said that she’s coming to see you,” She explained in a hurry.
Merlin was alarmed. Why did Arthur have to do that? But, of course, he should have known the prince wouldn’t have been content to let Merlin go off alone. That he would want to make sure Merlin hadn’t been sent to his death or something close to it…
Then he recalled the Future Arthur’s words about how the future Merlin followed him to Wonderland because he didn’t want to leave Arthur on his own. Merlin decided it went both ways for him and Arthur - then, now and in the future - they looked out for each other.
“He didn’t have a destination attached to him because, unlike Merlin, he was never meant to be here,” Pendragon noted, looking to Hatter for confirmation.
Hatter nodded, looking thoughtful. He spoke to Morgana. “Thank you for telling me. Now you best go. I’ll handle it.”
Morgana inclined her head at him. She went to Gwen, still on Arthur's head, and she kissed her softly on her furry head; murmuring a warm greeting. She then acknowledged Merlin and Pendragon.
“The bane of my existence,” she said smoothly to the blonde.
“Wicked Witch of the West,” he shot back, flashing a quick grin at her.
Morgana rolled her eyes at him. “Cinderella!” She countered, smirking at him.
“Oh come on!” Pendragon exclaimed, affronted.
She smiled sweetly at him, and then she left them, her walk hurried as she went off into the forest.
Merlin looked to Hatter. “How are you going to deal with Nimueh?”
Hatter just looked at him rather calmly. “I will deal with her accordingly. You have no need to worry, Merlin.”
But Merlin could not help but worry.
Then Hatter knocked over an empty teapot and he told Gwen to go hide somewhere. Gwen nodded and Pendragon took her off of his head and he set her on the table. She went to the sugar pot that Merlin had first seen her come out of. She looked expectantly at the blonde who took her in one hand and then placed her inside the pot.
Hatter waved his hand over the sugar pot. “There, the spell should keep Nimueh from noticing it.”
He took out two small, clear bottles full of liquid…a potion, perhaps?
“You two - drink this. Quickly,” He advised them, giving Merlin and Pendragon a bottle each.
“What will it do?” Merlin asked.
At the same time, Pendragon had a knowing look in his eye. He knew what it did.
“It’ll keep you both safe. Just, please, drink it,” Hatter nearly pleaded with him.
Uneasily, Merlin opened his bottle, the blonde doing the same beside him. At the same time, they both drank the potion.
And with a jolt, Merlin felt his body beginning to shrink…smaller and smaller…until…
…both he and Pendragon were small enough to fit inside the teapot that Hatter had knocked over. Hatter took one of them in each hand off of their now rather large chairs and he ushered the two of them into the teapot.
Once they were both inside of the teapot and the pot had been righted, his future self told Pendragon, “You know what to do,” he said.
So Merlin and Pendragon sat down beside each other in the teapot. Merlin felt a bit disoriented at his now suddenly smaller size, but the blonde gave him a small smile and put a finger to his lips as a reminder to keep quiet. Merlin restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Being quiet was obvious.
“You know how to get us back to our normal size?” Merlin asked him in a whisper.
Pendragon nodded. “Sure, of course I do,” he assured him. “Don’t worry about it. Like I told you, I grew up in Wonderland - I know my way around here.”
Merlin sighed. He never thought in a million years that he’d be in the company of an alternate version of Arthur - his mind still not being able to make sense of the reincarnation idea. There might have been some similarities, true, to his Arthur, but this future Arthur had gone through so much more than he could ever imagine - multiple lives and being reborn in a particularly mad world that Merlin now was stuck in for the foreseeable future…well, until he saved Wonderland, whatever that entailed. He hoped that his Arthur hadn’t been hurt by the Red Queen and that the both of them could get back to their world, to Camelot, in one piece. That wasn’t too much to ask, right?
They had been shrunk not a moment too soon. A few minutes later, the Red Queen, Nimueh, arrived with a few guards donned in red.
“Hatter,” Nimueh said briskly.
Directing the guards to stay where they were, Nimueh made her way to Hatter, seeming to float over to him. Hatter was still standing at the head of the table, barely moving from his place.
“Yes?” He said innocently.
Nimueh was in front of him now, and she smiled serenely at him, though it was easy to see the falsity of her smile.
“I have someone very curious at my palace. Very curious, indeed.”
“Oh, and who is that? Why come all this way to tell me?” He inquired lightly.
“Oh, but Hatter. I have missed you. I could not resist the opportunity to see you again.”
“Yes. Right,” he said tensely.
She only moved closer to him, eliminating the space between them. Hatter backed away. “You know my feelings. This serves no purpose. Just tell me what you wish to tell me,” he told her, his tone firm.
Nimueh smirked, looking at him in disbelief. “Oh, honestly. I know you already have found out. It will be no news to you. But what I want to know is who exactly the blonde man is. Considering his intriguing resemblance to Pendragon.”
“It’s simply coincidence. It happens! Nothing, it’s nothing. Honestly.”
The Red Queen gave a long-suffering sigh. She reached out her hand to place it over his cheek. “Hatter…Merlin…you’re a poor liar. Is he the original? Is he?” Nimueh inquired.
“I don’t know how you came to that conclusion…” He said, trailing off and appearing to be quite unperturbed by the Queen’s demanding presence.
She gave a long-suffering sigh. Her painted nails scratched at his cheek, just hard enough to leave a fleeting pain, but it wasn’t deep enough to leave a bleeding mark.
Hatter wrenched her hand away from his face. She only smiled coolly, her hand falling easily back at her side.
The Red Queen shrugged. “It’s quite simple, actually,” she explained smoothly to him. “I asked him if he knew of a Merlin, and if he knew that such a man possessed magic. He…didn’t. And the likeliest period of time for him not to know is in the original life -- before he ascended the throne. Otherwise in every life, Arthur Pendragon always knew. It was never a secret. I am not a fool, Hatter. I would have worked it out without your help, you understand.”
“Of course, Nimueh. I always knew you were clever,” Hatter said. It should have been a compliment, but he made it sound like he meant the exact opposite of ‘clever.’
Nimueh’s eyes narrowed, but she waved aside the remark and instead, chose to continue on, “I know you, Hatter. You may think I don’t, but I do. I know that you’re hoping to rescue Prince Arthur, return him to his rightful place. I know quite well what would happen if Arthur never becomes King. Camelot will fall, would it not? And you would not have that on your conscience. But you’re so desperate to save Wonderland as well, aren’t you? No one but you would form the Resistance. Everyone flocks to the man who cannot die -- a natural leader who never wanted to be one in the first place,” At those words, Hatter’s eyes darkened, a somewhat haunted look momentarily visible on his face before he shook himself and the look was gone. His expression now held only mild interest. Nimueh warned him, “Yet, you will heed my words: you will not succeed. I will stop you.”
Hatter did not back down from her warning. “You say that you know me, Nimueh, but I know you too. You still follow the Old Religion, do you not? It would be against the Old Religion to keep Arthur from fulfilling his greater purpose. You would be playing with fire if you keep him here or kill him. That would be incredibly foolish.”
Nimueh appeared unconcerned. “He trespassed on my grounds. No matter if it had been an accident or done on purpose, I will deal with him as I see fit. Old Religion be damned,” she declared resolutely. “Now I do realize if I take you back to the palace, you’ll attempt to rescue him. But I want you where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you stirring up trouble here.”
“My Queen,” Hatter said, the formal address sounding rather like a mockery, “the only thing that I have stirred up as of late is tea. I always try my best to abide by the rules.”
The Red Queen snorted at him in complete disbelief. She turned to the guards and she waved them over.
One of them held a red collar with red rubies embedded all around the piece of jewelry.
Nimueh took the collar from the guard and, unresisting, Hatter let her clasp it around his neck. There was a keyhole in the center of the collar. Hatter could see the keyhole when he peered down at the collar.
He looked to Nimueh who waved the key to unlock the collar teasingly in front of his face. Hatter just stared at her, rather unaffected by the act. He watched as she slipped the key back inside of her dress.
“Don’t you think that this collar is a little too red?” He asked her conversationally.
“Don’t be smart with me,” she retorted. “I know that the collar will only suppress your magic partially. It’s a pity that a device hasn’t been invented yet to prevent you from fully using your magic, but this will have to do,” Nimueh said, looking rather displeased at the lack of such a device.
“Yes, what a pity,” Hatter uttered, quite sarcastically.
Then she smiled widely. “But I can do this--” she said.
Two of the guards restrained Hatter, twisting his arms behind his back, while the third guard administered a needle to Hatter’s neck.
“Nervous, are we?” Hatter taunted Nimueh before the strong sedative kicked in and he went limp.
The Red Queen conjured a stretcher and the guards placed Hatter on top of it. They left Hatter’s dwelling, the stretcher floating along in front of them.
~ * ~
Arthur didn’t know what to think about what the Red Queen, as she had called herself, had asked him. Merlin possessing magic? That didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t possibly be true. And when he had denied that Merlin had magic, the Queen had smiled a bit too creepily for Arthur’s liking.
The prince was certain that he had said the wrong thing. He was beginning to really dislike this place. He just kept digging himself into deeper holes.
He was startled when he heard footsteps coming down the corridor in this dismal, dusty place where all the cells were located. The dungeons weren’t actually that different from the ones back in Camelot. Although, the area allocated for the cells did appear to be a bit bigger here than back home.
Arthur didn’t want to contemplate on why there was need for all those cells… from what he had seen of the Queen, she did seem to be the type to like arresting people simply on a whim.
The footsteps stopped in front of his cell. Arthur looked up to see a man in front of his cell. He had a striking resemblance to Merlin, if it were not for the absurd hat upon his head and the unfamiliar blue waistcoat he was wearing. And he seemed more worldly, maybe, than the Merlin he knew. Arthur could just sense that the man before him had seen a lot in his life.
That still didn’t explain the likeness to Merlin. Then again, the Red Queen had mentioned someone named Pendragon who looked like him. Was it too far-fetched that Merlin had a twin here too?
The man grinned at him. He held a key in his hand. “I have the key,” he announced.
Arthur stared at him.
The strange man waved his hand, wincing as if in pain as he did so, at Arthur’s cell door and the door opened.
The man walked into the cell and he smiled at the blonde. Arthur stood up when he entered. “Hello, I’m Hatter. And you are--?” the man asked.
Arthur sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. “Do you make a habit of walking into the cells of strangers? I suspect you know who I am if you’ve come to see me. Although, I don’t know how you sneaked past the Red Queen…” He wondered.
“I was only trying to be polite,” The man, Hatter, said with a shrug. “Have you heard of me though?”
Arthur then recalled that woman - Morgana or whoever she really was - mentioning Hatter briefly. And later, the Red Queen speaking of a Hatter who had a companion by the name of Pendragon.
“Yeah, someone named Morgana mentioned you… said you were getting madder by the second.”
Hatter didn’t seem offended by being called crazy by another person. “Oh, well, that was rather nice of her,” he remarked idly.
"And the Queen talked of you as well. That you had a companion who looked like me. His name is Pendragon," Arthur told him.
He looked at the other man to see how he took that information. Hatter just smiled vaguely at him, which annoyed Arthur. The prince had a bad feeling that Hatter wasn't telling him everything. Great, just great.
"The Red Queen never tires of talking about me. You would think that she has nothing better to do," Hatter said, appearing rather bemused at the thought.
Then Hatter sat down, his back against the wall. He looked up at Arthur, beckoning him to sit down next to him.
Arthur did so, watching for a moment as Hatter tossed the key from one hand to another. It was then that the blonde noticed the red, ruby-encrusted collar at the man’s neck. There was a keyhole at the front of it. He wondered what the collar was there for. He guessed that the key Hatter had was the one meant to unlock the collar. “So who are you exactly? And do you have magic? The cell door opened after you waved at it.”
Hatter nodded. “Yes, I do have magic. And I told you who I am, didn’t I? I’m here to rescue you, so I hope you can trust me.” He tried to smile reassuringly at Arthur.
The prince wasn’t too sure about taking his word for it, but he had to admit that Hatter’s likeness to Merlin did inspire him to trust the strange man. And he really wanted to get out of this wretched place at any rate.
He told Hatter, “You look like someone I know…I think he’s here - not in this palace - but somewhere else in this place, wherever it is. I came after him despite being warned not to by Morgana.”
“You’re in Wonderland, a different world completely. You’re a long way from home, Arthur Pendragon. I do commend you on your loyalty to this friend of yours,” he praised him.
Arthur gave a small shrug. “I couldn’t leave him on his own,” he only said.
Hatter smiled secretly at him. Arthur was a bit unnerved by the smile.
“I have a small favor to ask of you,” Hatter said to him.
The blonde looked at him expectantly.
~ * ~
Gwen had left the sugar pot when she was certain that the coast was clear. She had checked in on Pendragon and Merlin. She knew just where to look. Hatter had shrunk Pendragon quite a few times, Gwen knew, and usually, he had stuck him in a teapot. Typically, the shrinking had been for fun…a silly game that they played. Though the blonde seemed to like being shrunk - he had said that the change in size had afforded him a different outlook on the world around him. But sometimes Gwen thought that Pendragon was simply bored and being shrunk was an interesting pastime after the constant tea parties.
She had climbed up the teapot via the handle and her brown eyes peered inside the teapot. Gwen quickly averted her eyes, her furry white cheeks blushing pink. She most certainly had not been expecting that.
But at least the two of them seemed to be doing fine - more than fine, actually -- so Gwen took that as impetus to go off into the forest. Sure, it seemed a bit reckless with Hatter gone and the Red Queen always making her presence felt; but Gwen was not one to be scared off that easily. True, she was a mouse in this life and she knew what people thought of mice - that they were frightened of everything.
Gwen certainly wasn’t going to fit into that stereotype. She had been a Queen in the days of Camelot! There was simply no way that she was going to be cowed in this life or any other life, thank you very much.
She wandered through the forest a bit, admiring the colorful flowers around her, when she stopped near a thick tree.
“Hello, love,” A voice greeted her from the tree branch above her.
A grinning, purple striped cat appeared on the branch, gradually forming until she could see the whole cat.
“Lancelot,” Gwen smiled at him. “Oh, it’s good to see you. I have so much to tell you.”
~ * ~