"Sakine Meiko, huh..." Len stared at the ground, a focused look visible on his face. His brows narrowed as he looked up and stared into Rin's eyes. "If she's this world's Queen, then it is possible that she knows where Mikuo is... right?"

Rin looked back at him intently. Her eyes were showing that she was thinking deeply of something. Then, she replied, "Yes, it is possible."

Len nodded with determination. "Then we must hurry to the top floor to meet this woman!" he said as he looked at the buttons of the elevator, seeing the 157th button lighted up. "But there is still a long way to go before the top."

Unknown to him, Rin was still thinking of something deep. Her grip on Gumi's pocket watch tightened as she muttered. "... the Queen of Hearts, huh?"

"ARGH!" a brown-haired woman wearing a red frilly dress screamed in irritation. "Where the HELL is that girl?!" she screamed once more as she searched for that girl through the mirror she was holding.

"Calm down, Meiko," the purple-haired man, Gakupo, said to her.

Meiko glared at her companion and said, "How can I calm down? What if that Alice arrives here before we find her? What's going to happen?"

"The King doesn't seem like he's bothered by her disappearance," Gakupo said as he looked at a boy sitting on the couch casually. "Am I right, King?"

Meiko and Gakupo awaited the King's response. They were standing behind the couch where the King was sitting on, his arms rested on the edge of the couch's backrest.

The boy bent his head, resting his nape on the couch's edge, as he looked directly into Gakupo's eyes. He had a bored look on his face. "I'm bothered by something else, actually," he said.

Meiko asked, "What is it?"

The King repositioned himself properly and looked at the ground with sharp eyes. "The girl travelling with the Alice."

Meiko nodded. "Just like you mentioned before, Gakupo, that girl isn't a Trump Card, a Guardian, or a Broken. She pretty much appeared out of nowhere."

"Have you found out what her name is?" the King asked.

"No. But I'll order the Cheshire Cat to gather more information about the girl," Gakupo said as he signalled a door to open, revealing a figure of a woman standing casually.

The King grinned. "Great. Cheshire, go find out everything you can about the girl travelling with the Alice."

Meiko suddenly interrupted before Gakupo gestured the Cheshire to leave. She mocked, "That's right. After all, the King knows everything he needs to know about the Alice. He doesn't need Cheshire to research on him. Let him research on the mysterious girl inst—"

She was cut off when she was tackled on the ground, by none other than the King himself. His eyes were filled with pure hatred. He began strangling Meiko. "Don't you mock me, you worthless piece of crap," he hissed dangerously. "Mention that topic again and I swear, I'll kill you. You're easy to replace."

Meiko couldn't form any words as she was almost out of breath. She slowly turned to Gakupo, mentally asking him for help since the King was too strong. Gakupo merely watched her being strangled to death in boredom. Then he turned to Cheshire, "You may go now. They're currently in floor 157."

"... Gaku... po... you... bastard..." Meiko said, struggling from the King's grasp.

The King suddenly let go of her and went back to his couch. He lied down casually, as if nothing happened.

Meiko coughed a few times and sat up. She glared at the King and Gakupo. "I won't forget this, King."

Rin and Len arrived at the 157th floor after a few more seconds of waiting. The door opened and both stared at the "forest setting" of the floor. There were trees everywhere that you can't see the sky anymore.

"What a weird place. I wonder who this floor's Guardian is?" Len commented as he stepped inside.

"We better find him quick if you want to get to the top floor," Rin said as she walked past Len and went straight ahead.

"W-Wait for me Rin~" he said as he caught up to his female companion.

The two walked for a few more minutes before getting into a road made of soil. There were a bunch of it, going to the left, right, ahead, and diagonal. The two wondered what the soil road was for.

"Maybe if we follow one path then we'll get into something!" Len said cheerfully to Rin.

Rin was about to agree, when they heard a weird sound coming closer to them.

"What's that?" Len asked as he looked frantically everywhere, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

"It sounds like an old-fashioned steam-engine train," Rin said as she looked to their left.

"A... train? Like the ones run by coal?" Len asked unsurely before he heard the honk of a train.

Then, a whip of something gray and brown past them for a second. It only left a breeze of wind after it was gone.

Len suddenly panicked. "W-W-W-What was that?"

"The train, probably," Rin said calmly.

"N-No train run as fast as that! Heck, not even a jet plane can go in that speed!"

"We're not in your world, Len. We're in Wonderland. And we're inside this floor's Guardian's heart. Anything is possible," Rin said as she rolled her eyes.

"What kind of person has this kind of heart?" Len asked in exaggeration.

"Anyway," Rin said, ignoring Len, "The train didn't use any railway. It just ran over this soil road."

Len stopped panicking and looked at the soil road. "This road is the train's railway then?"

Rin nodded.

"So... what now?" he asked.

"We follow this road," she said, pointing towards the road going to the right.

Then, they heard the sound of an approaching train again.

"On second thought, we'll ride the next train," Rin said as she positioned herself.

"Are you kidding me? How are we going to even enter that train when it goes a million miles per hour?"

Rin offered a hand to Len. "We'll jump," she said as Len took her hand.

"We'll miss it, no doubt! Or worse, we might get hit by it!" Len said, panicking once more.

Rin smiled at him innocently.

A sound of a speeding train was heard, then a loud bump.

Back into the 23rd floor, Gumi was still running around, hoping to see any signs of Rin or Len. She was beginning to get nervous. What if they already left? If that were the case then she won't have any idea which floor they are on next. She just hopes that luck is on her side this time.

She saw a bunch of clover leaves ahead of her and she gradually stopped running. She looked at all of the plants, and found a four-leaf clover. She picked it up and stared at it.

"Can't you see she's only trying to protect you?" a voice interrupted Gumi's thoughts. She stopped when she noticed Gumiya in front of her.

Gumi stared at Gumiya curiously. "W-Who are you?"

"My identity is not important. What is important is your safety," he said.

"I don't care about my safety! I have enough of everyone protecting me! It's my turn to protect Rin now!" Gumi yelled with determination as she ran around Gumiya and continued on searching for Rin.

"She's not on this floor anymore," he suddenly said, making Gumi stop from running. She looked at him.

"I… I haven't caught up to her?" she said sadly. Gumiya looked at her saddened face blankly.

"She's on the 157th floor."

Then, Gumiya left. But not before saying, "Just make sure you won't die. Stupid Rabbit."

Gumi looked at him inquisitively as he disappeared into thin air. "Who… is that boy?"

And how dare he call her stupid! "You're the stupid one!" she yelled as it echoed throughout the grassy field.

"I... I can't believe you're such a risky girl, Rin..." Len said, his heart beating rapidly out of nervousness, fear and relief that they got inside the train safely. He can't even remember how it happened. He just realized that he was now lying on his stomach on top of the ridiculously over-speeding train with Rin sitting next to him.

"I'm not risky," she defended herself with a pout.

"Then what do you call yourself?" Len asked as he finally had the courage to sit up.

"An adventurer. Unlike you, who's a coward," she teased.

"H-Hey! I'm no coward!" he said. Then he added, "I... uh... I was just concern for your safety! You don't even appreciate it!"

"Yeah, right," Rin said sarcastically, dropping the subject. Then she looked up. "You can see the sky from here."

He looked up also and smiled. "Yeah..."

Cheshire leaped from tree to tree. She just arrived at this floor after Gakupo-sama sent her for this mission through King. "This floor... from what I remember, its guardian is him," she thought as she continued on leaping to another tree. Then she stopped when her cat ears twitched, meaning that she heard a sound getting close to her. She looked behind her and spotted an old and rusty-looking train approaching her at an alarming speed.

She faded away slowly.

"Hey Rin..." Len called her while they were still on top of the train heading towards god-knows-where.

"What is it?" she asked, facing ahead and avoiding his gaze.

"... You told me before about the residents of this world... There are the Trump Cards and the Guardians... Rin, what are you in this world?" he asked, feeling awkward at his question.

"You don't really need to know," she answered and continued on looking ahead.

Len watched her as the strong gust of wind played with her short blonde hair. Her eyes were still emotionless, as always, but he can see that there is something her eyes were telling that he can't describe. "Don't I have the right to know?" he persisted.

Rin heaved an impatient sigh. "You told me that the only reason you're here is because you want to find your friend. I am helping you find him by leading you towards the top floor where the Trump Cards live. Therefore, it is unnecessary for you to know my identity. My identity is off topic."

Len diverted his gaze from her, feeling a bit hurt.

He just wanted to know more about her... she is his companion for the rest of his journey after all. "Sorry," he apologized.

Suddenly, a female figure faded in just in front of them. From transparent to solid, a pink-haired woman appeared. Len was so shocked of this person's random appearance that he almost fell down the speeding train. Good thing he managed to get back his composure before he completely fell.

"What the!" he screamed in surprise.

The pink-haired woman stood up, despite the probable chance of being off-balanced because of the moving train. She placed a hand over her hips and stared at them with her alluring blue eyes. Well, she specifically looked at Rin.

Rin stared back at her with her emotionless blue eyes. "Cheshire..." she spoke.

Cheshire leaned closer to her and gently placed her index finger under Rin's chin to make her face her. She scanned the blonde girl's facial features. While the two were staring at each other without any exchange of words, Len kept on watching them, still in shock at Cheshire's sudden appearance.

Cheshire's figure began turning transparent again and when she re-appeared, she was behind Rin.

"H-How in the world did she do that?" Len asked in exaggerated voice.

Cheshire stroked Rin's silky blonde hair and began playing with her white ribbon. She continued on examining the girl. Then she teleported away from them again. She appeared in front of Len, this time.

"My name is Megurine Luka, also known as Cheshire Cat," she introduced herself to Len who backed away from her in panic, but also kept himself balanced so as not to fall from the train. "There is no need to be afraid. I can not hurt Alice without consent from Gakupo-sama," she said when she noticed that Len was avoiding her.

"W-What the hell are you talking about? A-Are you this floor's Guardian?"

Luka shook her head sideways. "No, I am not. I am merely a weapon created by my master."

"I don't get it..." Len said, his face still surprised.

"You do not need to get it, Alice. I am here to ask you one question, and one question only," Luka said in her deep, calm voice. She pointed her look to Rin. "Who is that girl with you? I can not seem to fathom her existence. I am a being who is knowledgeable of every person living in Wonderland. Unfortunately, I can not see that woman's data in my database."

"Y-You mean Rin?" he looked at Rin's direction. The blonde girl was staring back at them, still emotionless.

"Rin..." Luka looked as if she was trying to process something. "The only Rin in my database is the one called Kagamine Rin."

"Y-Yeah... she is Kagamine Rin, right, Rin-chan?" Len looked at Rin.

"..."

"You are most likely not telling the truth," Luka said and faded away again. She re-appeared next to Rin. "Her existence... is quite disoriented, like an abstract art. She is not Kagamine Rin. She is someone who is not from this world nor yours."

"E-Eh? I don't get the way you speak, Luka-san..." Len said then he realized something immediately after saying her name. "M-Megurine Luka? A-Aren't you the one from the news?" he said when he remembered her name and her face from the news he watched the other day. "Y-You're from my world, too!"

"I did not exist anywhere but Wonderland. I am a creature of this world. I am not an Alice," the pink-haired woman said.

"Cheshire..." Rin called which made Luka turn to her. "Who is the one who sent you? Is it the King?" she asked.

"Yes," Luka replied. "And so, please tell me the reason of your existence here. Your real identity is a mystery."

"I won't be able to tell you my identity simply because I am who I am. What you see is me."

Luka suddenly saw that Rin was trying to hide something from her. She kept on touching the pockets of her frilly and lacy dress as if trying to keep something there. "May I see what you have inside your pocket?"

"No."

Luka continued on staring at her. "I believe that whatever you have in your pocket will reveal your real identity. Now, please hand it over."

"No."

Len felt the tension between the two girls and he decided to step in, despite not getting what was really happening and what they were talking about. "Hey cut it out! Can't you see Rin doesn't want to?" Len tried to stand up to walk over to them but the speeding train was keeping him from doing so. So he just crawled towards them.

Luka turned her head towards him and looked at him with her blue eyes. Her eyes literally glowed and changed color. "Do not interfere," she said in a strong voice and her eyes turned into color red.

Len sensed danger. He felt that Luka was about to use some sort of magical power against him. He shut his eyes, slowly anticipating what was about to happen to him.

Rin gently grabbed Luka's hand and the pink-haired woman's eyes reverted back to normal. Her eyes widened. She suddenly can't release her powers. She looked confused and began fading away. "I shall return."

Len opened his eyes again when he heard Luka spoke. Then, the woman disappeared right before their eyes. "What happened? She just left?"

He looked at Rin who was still sitting there as if nothing happened. "What did you do, Rin-chan?"

To be continued.

A/N: Yo I am back from temporary retirement. Good news though~ I will return in writing by the end of February or at March. I just really missed writing... I can't stop myself. So now, I will return to my thesis and leave you guys again for a while :) Please pray that I will do good in my thesis that I'm going to defend on the first week of February...

Hope you liked this chappie ;) I did not proofread it because I was too excited to update it... I'll proofread it someday...

Author's question to readers/reviewers:

Who do you think Rin really is? :)