Feliciano tentatively walked up to the long table and sat down on the plush, red chair at the end of the table, without saying a word. Suddenly, Vlad-bunny jumped up and pointed at Feliciano accusingly. "No room! No room! Go away!" he yelled. Feliciano jumped up himself with eyes round as saucers.

"There is plenty of room," he protested. "I just sat down on an empty chair."

"There is no room for you!" Vlad-bunny declared stubbornly. Feliciano was startled by the stark argument and thought it was best to just leave. However, just as he turned around to head out the Mad Hatter called him.

"Please return love," he said calmly with his pompous British accent. "I find you quite an interesting fellow and wish to speak to you."

"This is going to be interesting." Feliciano thought. I mean, Arthur being nice? That had to be the most different personality Feliciano met all day. He took the seat again and began to stare at the group. They all stared back, as if they have never seen anyone like Feliciano before.

"You should get that curl cut. It's awfully distracting." The Hatter remarked and took another sip of his tea. Feliciano gasped and held his signature strand protectively.

"I can't cut it! It would hurt, emotionally and physically. You shouldn't make such remarks like that anyway." He said.

"And why not?" Vlad-bunny added. "It was just a suggestion."

"Because it's personal!" Feliciano replied.

"A hair is personal?" Lukas-mouse asked drowsily. "Never heard such a ridiculous statement before."

Feliciano knew that the explanation was a little silly, but he didn't want to lose his hair so he tried a different conversation. "Um, can I have some tea please?"

"How can you have some tea if you didn't start with any in the first place?" Vlad-bunny asked.

"You would add some more to the cup, March." The Hatter said simply.

"But he can't have more if he had none yet!"

"You mean he can't have less. It's very easy to take more than nothing."

Feliciano ignored this conversation piece and poured himself some tea. It was no use trying to make sense out of this. Vlad-bunny broke the silence that was beginning to form.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he asked Feliciano suddenly. The boy stood in thought for a bit, trying to recall all the information he had on the two subjects.

"I'm not sure," he said in defeat. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I can't find the answer for that stupid riddle! It's been driving me insane for years!"

"If you just let Tweedle Dum tell you the answer," the Hatter interrupted. "Then you wouldn't have to deal with it anymore."

"No! I'm going to figure it out myself!" Vlad-bunny pounded on the table in frustration, but Arthur sent him a glare.

"If you don't stop upsetting the table, I will put a binding spell on you." He warned and even pulled out a dusty tomb, presumably with spells, for emphasis. Vlad-bunny got quiet real quick, but now silence fell on the table once more.

"What day of the month is it?" the Hatter asked.

"The fourth, I believe." Feliciano replied.

The Hatter smirked. "Not too sure are you?" he said. He took a large silver watch from his pocket. He sighed and scowled at the rotten thing. "Two days off, again. I told you that butter wouldn't suit the works, March."

"It was the best butter," Vlad-bunny defended. "And I don't know a fixing charm."

"Well you should, git! What have I taught you all these years?"

"Then mister, you fix it."

The Hatter blushed in anger, for he didn't know a charm that would fix the works either. Before he could blast Vlad-bunny's ears off, Feliciano grabbed the watch with glee.

"What a curious watch!" he exclaimed as he examined the object. "It tells you the day and the month, but not the o' clock!"

"Why would it?" the Hatter asked as he took the watch back. "Does your watch tell you what year it is?"

"No," Feliciano replied. "It stays a year for so long that a watch that would tell that would be almost useless."

"I suppose so. May I ask have you ever met with Time before?"

"No. I've heard of it, but I don't think that I could speak to time itself."

"Well, that's rude," Vlad-bunny interjected. "Time can speak quite well for himself."

"Him?" Feliciano asked. "I don't think time has a gender."

"Then you must have never spoken to Time," Lukas-mouse said in his sleep. "Take my word for it; it's a him and he is quite delightful to talk to."

"That's true," the Hatter said. "If you are on good terms with Time, he will do anything with the clock you ask him. Like if you want extra time on your nap, all you have to do is ask Time to hold the clock at the hour for a while. There's an extra two hours of sleep for you."

"That sounds wonderful," Feliciano, said smiling. "I always like extra time for my siesta. Is that how you manage?"

Vlad-bunny and the Hatter sighed in unison, but the Hatter answered. "No, we used to be really good friends with Time, but one day the King had me cook him a meal," he blushed in embarrassment considerably from that statement. "I burnt the food and he said to me 'How could you forget Time for so long! Off with his head!'" Feliciano gulped at the last statement and held his neck.

"That's awful!" he cried. The Hatter and Vlad-bunny nod. "How did you escape?"

"You would be surprised how easily you can escape the King of Heart's guards," Lukas-mouse said from the side. "They are quite flat when it comes to their job."

"In any case," the Hatter continued. "Time got really mad at us for forgetting him, so now he won't do anything we ask. It's always 6 now."

"Is that why you have all these tea things here?" Feliciano asked. They nodded. "You just move around the table for new cups?" Another nod. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Let's change the subject," Vlad-bunny said abruptly. "What's your story, Feli? Why are you here?"

Feliciano sighed himself and began to tell his story once more, with the ideas beginning to get fuzzy. The party listened intently and the Hatter actually looked at Feliciano with sympathy. "Well, if it makes you feel better, you seem pretty brave to me." He said once the story was completed.

"Yeah," said Vlad-bunny. "Most people think we are 'mad' or something like that. And you came to us quite easily"

"Well, I just came for direction," Feliciano said sheepishly. "And maybe a way to find 'my ending to my story' or whatever the Tweedles told me."

"You know if you want," Lukas-mouse said. "We could probably make you a courage charm. March and I are pretty good at trinkets like this. The Hatter though-"

"You wanker!" the Hatter shouted. "I taught you how to use magic in the first place! Why, I should just stuff you in the teapot!" And that's exactly what he tried to do.

"Hey, cut it out!" Feliciano exclaimed. He went up to the two rivals and tried to break them up. "He was just trying to help me. I'm sure you could do just as well with charms, Mr. Hatter." Hatter quieted down and let go of the abused man-mouse.

"I am, and don't you forget it, Feli," The Hatter huffed. "You either, Dormouse." he added with a growl.

Once the party settled down, Feliciano resumed the conversation. "I don't think I want a courage charm, thank you. I think I need to figure this out myself."

"Suit yourself." Lukas-mouse replied imply and lay his head down to rest more.

"So, do you know where Mr. Roderich is?" Feliciano asked the trio. "I was told you might know."

"No, I haven't seen the White Rabbit since the cooking incident," the Mad Hatter replied. "I apologize; I suppose this means you are off now?"

"Yes, I really need to find Mr. Roderich and soon; I want to get home soon."

"I hope you find your path, Feli." Vlad-bunny said with actual care.

"Thank you." Feliciano said as he stood up.

With that, Feliciano waved goodbye at his new acquaintances and headed deeper into the forest. "I don't think if I will be able to find Mr. Roderich," he thought to himself. "I think I should just head home, whichever way that is." However, the further Feliciano walked, the darker the forest grew, and the harder the path was to find. "Which way should I go?" Feliciano asked aloud. No one answered.