Villainess Of Hearts

She was sinking deeper and deeper.

Sludge, shadows and smoke—one couldn't tell what it was, or was it what. Senseless and mad questions drifting back and forth. She was going forwards, or was she going backwards? Did it matter. What did matter? Who was she? What was she? A long tunnel of darkness surrounded her.

And it was suffocating.

Riveting. Motionless. She couldn't feel her arms but she could see and feel. If she looked above, left and right—it was all dark. But below her? Below her was hope. She had feet. She could move. Slow steps, one foot forward and then another. She was barefoot once again and the floor, the road was nothing but a white road. And not an end in sight.

And… Rosalyn Lockhart began to move, stepping through the road and moving forward—because that was all she could do. Moving and moving, with not an end in sight—that was what she did. Until her lungs burned and she felt the pressure clog in her chest. Darkness swirled and lingered around her and she faltered.

It was a mistake.

When her foot stepped on the road and she watched the white block drop into the inkinesss of the void. She couldn't cross it and so she leapt past it, moving on faster and faster that her heart pounded in her chest. Louder and louder. Until all she could hear was the pounding in her ears and it melded in with a familiar sound.

Tick-Tock

Tick-Tock

She was running out of time. She was running for time. time. Time. Anything for time? What even lay ahead of her if she kept running, and her steps came into a halt. Looking back provided the white road pocketed with square holes, emptied by her step. 

Tremble.

The very block she was standing on—it gave in and she dropped. 

She fell.

And yet there was no fear. Freely falling. There was no sensation of loss or pain, and everything was simply just the drop. They were just tired. Completely tired and worn out. Running white rabbits. Chasing little rabbits. Girls in blue little dresses. Did it even matter? In the end there was nothing.

Her body crashed on the table.

The sensation of pain rocketed across her entire body and sent her spiralling into a mad curse fest. And the person who had been sitting down on the table to shock and before she knew it—she was placed back on her feet and was face to face with the person who brought all of this into fruition.

Whoever he actually was.

"...How did you get here?" The Time Man motioned to her once, before shaking his head and clearing the table once. The contents of it emptying itself until what was left was a plain white table.

Rosalyn Lockhart raised a hand to her face, and checked that she was lucid before smiling tiredly, "I'm not so sure myself. You don't sound so happy right now, though?"

A soft cough escaped the Time Man.

Truly a human-like expression as they finally sat down at the same time that her seat was pulled open for her. "I...I'm not used to unexpected visits is all. It can be a bit annoying if you open your doors to anyone at all times. A lot of people tend to seek me." With one snap of their fingers, the empty table was returned to its former glory. Cakes, treats and tea fit for a feast.

Rosalyn Lockhart carefully sat down at the chair, but unlike last time—she made no motion for the treats. Instead she gazed at the person. This someone who gave her more 'time', "I don't know why I'm here but I don't know why you're doing this."

"Hmm? Doing what, Your Majesty?" Their voice held a hint of light curiosity.

"I've died already. Countless times already if my understanding is sufficient enough—and yet you return me every time. For what reason? You could have given me my full memory then this little play can be finally over. I could have—"

"You already did it before." 

"What?" This wasn't the answer that she wanted.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as the man then began to pour himself a cup of tea, "I didn't want to do it before, you know the Joker and his role. My own role is a bit different but also of prime importance. Giving time freely to anyone—that is horrific, the world would not move forward. But you asked me for the first time..." The Time Man picked up their tea and took a sip, "That is to say, when you originally died—you asked me and I did not give it to you."

He finally said it.

But the memory didn't exactly return. It almost felt like he was telling a story about someone else. Rosalyn Lockhart folded her hands together, "And… I must have died. But I had my memory back then?"

"Full memory. You already killed Alice before, the King of Hearts too—although that might have been another occasion." Time Man placed his cup down. "You killed Alice the moment she stepped into the Castle of Hearts, you waited so patiently for it that you even forgot to behead the other people, patiently waiting for the moment for her to return. You didn't even let your Knight do it for the satisfaction of it. But you horrified the people—an already disgruntled people and so the ending could be said almost the same. Public execution didn't go well."

"I'm...doing differently now."

"But you do intend to make her suffer once she arrives, don't you?" A smile in his voice.

Rosalyn Lockhart couldn't tell if the man was apathetic or he had already seen it all. She sighed and placed her elbows on the table and rested her face on her palm. "Please don't tell me that I'm going to fail miserably each time and you wish me to acknowledge that killing Alice won't do me any good?"

"I govern time and not morals." The Time Man shrugged, "You've succeeded before though, but somehow, things often don't work out in the end—wait, there was that one time. You almost 'nailed everything', killed the girl, killed the King and took over the throne. But you killed yourself."

Her hands slipped from her face. "I-I...what?"

"...my apologies, I shouldn't have mentioned that. But it happened." The Time Man sighed and tapped their fingers on the table.

"Why did that happen?" Rosalyn Lockhart couldn't think of anything, until she paused. "What happened? Did… the other Suit Kingdom attack us."

"Indeed, that was what probably had happened."

Rosalyn Lockhart clicked her tongue. She listened to the results of her actions and didn't like them at all, which was funny—the stuffy feeling in her chest was still there. And hearing that she already tried countless times but failed. The emotions she had felt on the bridge in the darkness, it seemed to multiply. And yet, she looked up at the cloaked man. "If that is the case, then why do you keep insisting on sending me back if it's fruitless."

"You kept asking before."

"And I didn't ask for it this time, haven't I?" The Queen of Hearts gave the man a look. "You were the one who asked me the question and then sent me back. What exactly is it that you want from me? What do you get from sending me back? Is it amusing to watch me fail countless times already?"

"No."

Her throat tightened, "Then what is it? I didn't ask for this anymore... "

"How is your life, this time? Is it still horrible to you?"

She knew that he was avoiding the question,but she looked down at the table and plucked out a pastry. It wasn't quite a roseberry tart though. "I suppose there's not much to say about it yet. It's a little less than seven days if I were to point it out, but unlike… my other lives, I assume? There are some differences now."

"Each of them were actually different, if you ask me."

"You're asking me aren't you?" She lifted her gaze and shot them a quick glare before looking back down on the pastry. "I think this one is a little different, from what you've already shared—in the first time you gave me, I waited desperately to behead Alice and didn't do much? The other time you shared was me succeeding both the King and the girl but killing myself. It sounded like… I was quite obsessed with them and bringing them to justice."

"But you still want to do that, right?"

"Can you quit asking me questions for a minute?"

"Gladly."

Rosalyn Lockhart pursed her lips and ran her fingers over the edges of the tart. "I'm not so sure if the previous me had ever met Mary Ann before?"

"Oh, you did actually and had her killed as practice one time, and on the other time—"

The Queen of Hearts raised her head and leaned forward towards the man, she shoved the tart in his face. "Can you eat this tart and shut up for a moment?" Watching the man fall to silence, Rosalyn Lockhart leaned back into her seat and sighed. "Well, this time at least—I haven't killed her. Yet. I suppose. But it's not only her… I've gotten upset with the King of Hearts but haven't contemplated killing him yet, or acted on it—I suppose my previous time, I was obsessed with gaining his affections."

Joker reminding her of her infatuation with a golden haired prince was a terrible memory.

Rosalyn Lockhart cleared her throat, "I have no interest in him now. But that's not exactly what I'm trying to tell you… I'm just saying that this feels different, even though you forced me into this position. I always thought that Alice's companions were intolerable mad fools. I haven't met them all yet, but Nicholas Hatter? His character isn't as bad as I assume him to be, he's not just a mad man. And I've also met Chesire, he's quite adorable and yet also funny in a way? Irritating sometimes."

The Queen of Hearts looked at the empty teacup and found it refilling itself. She picked it up and took a sip, "I've met the other Kings and Queens, and unlike before, I at least will have more nuance if they want to start a war. Actually, the King of Spades gifted me a dagger and it was quite useful actually. Quite timely in a way." She looked up and smiled lightly.

The Time Man didn't say anything.

"T-That was a good joke." Rosalyn Lockhart frowned, "Timely… because you—?"

A small chuckle left his lips, "I get it, but it wasn't actually that funny."

Rosalyn Lockhart placed a hand over her face. Her cheeks burned.. "Nevermind it then, I think I just made myself look a fool. But I present to you my case, this time is quite different from the others. I'm much more prepared now that you told me."

"...And perhaps you are having a good time now?"

It was his parting words from the last time. She gazed up at him and raised a brow. "Good time?"

"Are you happy?"