Chapter 4: What Beautiful Flowers

They got up early the next morning, though the weed pit was only half an hours walk away, but they had to get there in the wee hours of the morning because, "That's when the weeds are least hungry." explained a nervous looking hare. Jeff had been fretting all morning, ears standing on end. "Guys hurry up! It's almost three o'clock." Nick looked at Jeff with a slight smirk as he whispered, "I actually banned him from drinking coffee this morning. Imaging how much worse he would be with caffeine in his system." They collectively shuddered at the thought. The Hatter stood, and tugging slightly, pulled Jeff out of the kitchen and into their bedroom. Jayce and Jem were too busy throwing flour at each other to notice that Nick forgot to close the door to the bedroom. Kurt felt slightly bad about eavesdropping -but the scene in front of him was, there was no other word to describe it- beautiful.

"Jeff." Nick said softly, tracing circles into his boyfriend's bare shoulder. "Calm down." Jeff looked sadly at his partner. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I know it's hard for you." Nick looked down at him, with an expression of pure love. Kurt's heart swelled as he looked at the couple, who bore expressions of nothing but love and familiarity. There familiarity was such that they both knew exactly what the other meant, with each touch and each whispered comfort. The Hare leaned into his partner as Nick began stroking his ears. "This is who you are." He whispered, barely loud enough for Kurt, who was now standing in the outside corridor, to hear. "And I love you." Jeff looked lovingly into the Mad Hatter's eyes. "And I have my moments too." Nick said quietly. Jeff cuddled into Nicks lap and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek. "That's why we're perfect together."

"Eavesdrop much?" whispered a voice in his ear. Kurt almost fell over due to shock, and it took him a few seconds to turn around and register that it was not one of the cuddling lovers in to other room that had walked out and caught him, but Jem.
"I thought you guys were busy with the four fight." Said Kurt, trying to sound less shocked.
"Relax, it's not like I'm going to tell them, but if you come with me, I'll explain." Jem walked ino the living room, grabbing Jayce along the way and they all sat down on the small couch.
"You see, ever since we were little, we've known Nick." Jem started.
"We have known about his... episodes for a long time, and we can deal with it." Jayce continued.
"He can be a little intense."
"He is mad after all."
"He could stand up and start screaming about something when our life depends on being quiet."
"It has happened."
"That's why we know every back way out of every place in the whole of Wonderland."
"And we knew about the Hare in passing too."
"Though we had never actually met him."
" There was a rumour of a crazy hare, living in the wood."
"Who was always screaming about thing coming to get him."
"We thought maybe we could help him."
"So we brought Nick with us to go and find him."
"We spent a lot of time together."
"And Nick found an obsession with riddles."
"And tea."
"And they fell for each other."
"Jeff could calm Nick down easily when he had an episode."
"And Nick could always calm Jeff down when he got worried "
"So we left them here."
"To be together forever."
"In sickness and in heath."
"In happiness and in pain." Jem finished with a cheeky smile. "But we still drop in. The Hatter likes a good prank."
This story left Kurt more confused than before. What happened in one of the Hatter'sepisodesand why did they happen? Nick seemed so calm and collected, it was hard to imagine him out of control.
"You guys are so melodramatic." Came a voice from the door. The Mad Hatter stood in the doorway, a slight grin lighting his features. "Come on. Jeff's got our stuff outside."

Outside, the March Hare stood, waiting calmly for them. Around him were two bags, one holding food, the other holding blankets and coats. In his hand was a heavily enchanted small velvet bag with stain drawstrings, for the key. They had decided that it would be best to carry it in a bag with a protection enchantment and binding charm on it, as it may infect other areas of Wonderland if it is exposed. Each of the Tweedles grabbed a bag, and started walking up the path.

A couple hundred meters down the path thorns started growing, and an eerie tune filled the air. It sounded mourning, like something that may be played at a funeral. A haze of fear began to grip Kurt, setting in like a fog, clouding his senses. His heart was beating like a hummingbirds wings and hs breathing became heavy. One of the thorny bushes snaked out and tried to grab at his ankle, while humming that eerie tune.
"They still sing." muttered Jayce in annoyance. "Get the light out Ali- Kurt. They get bigger." Kurt pulled the light from his pocket and the weeds immeadiatly shied away from them. They stopped humming, instead making a hissing noise, like water being dripped onto a heated pan. The walk to the pit seemed to take forever, although the it was relatively short. The hissing got louder as the weeds and thorns got bigger and more frequent in sightings, until the path was almost obscured. The pit was terrifying. There were flowers, blackened and wilted, suffocated by weeds and with faces that looked wrong. Their eyes were sunken into the folds of their petals and their leaves housed a blue poison, toxic to the touch. Blood lingered on the edges of the black, papery petals.

They scrambled down the side of the pit, and the largest of the flowers, a magnificent black rose, spoke in a high, breathy voice, "You're aWEED. We don't likeweeds." Her odd, airy voice tuned rough and deadly as she started to sing.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With death and blood and lots of mud,
And one last killing blow!"

The stench of blood filled the air and the flowers, although hindered by the light, were finding ways to slow them down. They would raise their roots and trip them, or, at one point, release mushroom spores and make it difficult to breath. Luckily in that instance the hatter had known they were going to b entering the mushroom territory, and told them to breathe through a piece of cloth. Slowly a light appeared in the distance, a small chamber, with a door of silver. A smile lit up Jayce's face as he broke into a run, bumbing into Kurt. Kurt's heart dropped as the light fell from his hand, and extinguished. The door was less than one hundred meters away, but they weren't going to make it with the flowers closinging in on them, murderous expressions on their faces. The Hatter screamed at them to run, and without a look back, sprinted I the opposite direction. Jem scopped a histeric Jeff into his arms and they bolted for the door. Once they were inside, Jem let Jeff down and bolted the doors.

-O—

Jeff felt like his heart had been ripped in two. He started shaking, his screams ripping through the night. "NICK! NICK!" he called for his friend, for his lover, and started to run after him when he was pulled into iron arms, and held there, unable to escape. With every step that his captor took he was further away from Nick. Every step further felt like more and more of his heart, his life, was being ripped away. He was pulled into darkness and then he was falling. Falingfallingfalling. The smell earth filled his nose and his ears twitched at the sound of somebody yelling his name. "JEFF! I LO-" The cry was cut short and his the Mad Hatter was silent. Blackness closed in, and that cry repeated over and over in the March Hare's mind.

-O-

Kurt's eyes were wide, as he saw he small key, sitting on a crystal podium, a jewel in the shape of a heart topping it. A smoky substance swirled around in the jewel and Jem was staring into it, enchanted. "The queen's heart..." he whispered. He grabbed it and put it into the small charmed bag, and a sharp wind brushed past the, into the key, like all the air around the garden had been sucked into the small key. Kurt glanced around the crystal chamber, blues and whites grabbing his eyes, light glinting off the stalactites that hung from the ceiling. It was beautiful. So beautiful that he could have stayed there and just looked at it for hours, but sadly that was not the case. Soon enough the weight of the Hatters sacrifice settled upon his shoulders and, as if reading his mind, Jem whispered, "He's dead... There's no way he could have survived." They found a secret passageway out the back, and it was decided that the Tweedles would accompany Kurt to the castle, while Jeff would go home and mourn his loss. They had won, but they had also lost, and they could not celebrate, in the knowledge of their friends sacrifice.

Tears fell form Kurts eyes, over somebody he barely even knew. That made it even worse. The Hatter barely knew him, yet he gave his life for a battle that was Kurt's. For a stupid game that he didn't have to be involved in. That night they set up a camp and all huddled around the fire, not saying anything, but feeling each other's comfort all the same.