Chapter 15

Akefia had been walking around since before dawn. It was actually one hell of a long walk to the captitol of the land and the white-haired master of ceremonies was regretting turning down the March Hare's offer of getting him a ride there. His logic at the time had been that if Marik found out he'd feel even more betrayed.

Which brought the man to his next train of thought; how in the seven depths get of hell did that god-damn lion get pulled into Wonderland? He'd locked his dressing room when he'd ventured in himself, and although he'd lef his top hat on the dressing table in plain sight there was no way that Marik, or anyone, could've known or suspected it was anything more than an accessory that he was particularly attached to.

The only reason the Ringleader could think of for Marik's reason for being here was that he didn't lock the door like he thought he had, and the stupid lion had decided to play with his favourite and most treasured hat. Akefia hoped he'd been in a secluded place because he didn't want anyone to across the hat and take it for themselves. Hell, right now he was even hoping Bakura or Malik had hold of it rather than some random circus patron whom he may never find.

One thing he was always happy with about Wonderland is that for every day he spent in the magical place, it was only a minute in the 'real world'. So the tanned man could spend a month there, just chilling out after a particularly rough schedule, and still only be gone for half an hour. He abswas his absolutely loved it, and it was his own little secret. Or it was until Marik discovered the entrance.

Akefia's walking brought him to a fork in the road, which was thanksfully signposted but still caused the Ringleader a small dilemma. One path lead to Heartland City, where he could possibly search for Marik and maybe cause a little chaos for the Queen of Hearts. The other path lead to the mansion belonging to the King of Spades, and he hadn't seen him in while, plus he could possibly help finding his loyal pet (as well as possibly getting him a lift into the city).

His mind was made up quickly with the thought of a ride, and the red-clad man strode down the path to the King's mansion. It was actually quite strange meeting the King of Spades, mainly because it was like looking into some weird mirror only the King was a lot more... mellow than him, if that was the word. Akefia loved to torment and cause chaos and let everyone know about it. The King of Spades was far more reserved and preffered cold and calulated chaos to outright destruction and misery.

It was quite fun, really. Sure, there'd been a few unfortunate circumstances that the Ringleader wasn't sure if he wanted to forget or not, but brainstorming malevolent ideas with his mirror image was one hell of a way to spend three days (at least he thought it had been three days, could've been a week with all he knew because of the amount of Wonder-vodka they both had).

The huge black and white house came into view pretty quickly, and Akefia was glad that it wasn't techincally in the middle of nowhere that the Duchess's house was. The wrought-iron gates swung open as he heared, as if sensing hs wasn't a threat. The same happened with the doors leading to the main foyer, and the Ringleader was greeted by a small collection of friendish looking servants, who all bowed at his presence and welcomes him.

"Yeah yeah, where the fuck is your King?" He demanded, waving off their welcomes and wanting to get straight to the point. "I need to see him."

"At once sir." One servant, dressed in black robes covering his face, almost glided off to find the King of Spades for him. Two other servants, dressed identically, lead the Ringleader to a large and well furnished lounge with a roaring fireplace.

Akefia sat down on one of the white sofas and helped himself to the treats laid out on the table in front of him. He was starving having not had breakfast. He's managed to steal a bagel from the March Hare but hadn't stopped for a decent meal. The chocolates and cakes before him were a small life-saver.

"What the hell do you want?" The King said when he entered the room, his hair dripping with water and Akefia could only guess he'd just come out of the bath.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting your personal time." The Ringleader grinned as he stood up to face the man, in reality not sorry at all. "But I need a favour."

"I'm not doing anything for you so get out." The white-haired king glared, pointing a forceful finger towards the door.

"Well then I'll have to tell everyone about what we got up to last month." Akefia smirked at the suddenly shocked look on his mirror image's face. "That you got so drunk you ended up i-"

"That's enough!" The King of Spades bellowed, walking up to the other tanned male and looking him straight in the eye, maybe only an inch of space between them. "If you keep that pretty mouth shut I might just be inclined to help you."

"Excellent." Akefia chuckled, "In that case I need you to keep an eye out for someone for me." He turned and sat back down, once more helping himself the to the chocolate on the table.

"Who might that be?" The white-haired royal stood with his arms folded across his bare chest in a defensive manner. It wasn't that he didn't like the other man. It was just he had a way of annoying the ever-loving crap out of him.

"My pet. Marik. He's a blonde lion who has somehow gotten hold of my hat and fallen into Wonderland." Akefia explained, munching on a cupcake from a silver tray. "He ran off last night and I need to find him."

"If he's as loyal as you've told me, why did he run from you?" The King of Spades held back a grin, slowly sauntering over to sit on the arm of the sofa the Ringleader sat on.

"He caught me fucking around with the March Hare." Akefia said, no hint of shame in his voice, just a tinge of frustration. "Being the emotional kitty cat he is the bastard ran off before I had a chance to catch him."

"So you want me to look for him?" The King raised an eyebrow, "And what do you want me to do when I find him?"

"Keep him here, if you can, and... I dunno... summon me or something." The white haired master of ceremonies shrugged, not actually knowing what his plan was.

"Hm, is that all?" The other man smirked in a mysterious way that had Akefia curious. "This wouldn't happen to be the same lion who fooled around with the Duchess's pet now, would it?"

"What?!" Akefia nearly screamed, "Where the hell did you hear that?"

"From the Cat himself." The King of Spades grinned, loving the outburst he'd got from the tanned man. "He was braggin quite a bit at finding himself a new little fucktoy to play with."

"Oh that god-forsaken hypocrite!" The Ringleader growled, slamming a fist down on the table. "He goes mental at the fact I screwed around with another furry and yet HE did it himself! I'll fucking whip that lion senseless when I find him." He stood up and furiously made to leave. "Keep him chained up if you find him, and tell that Cat of yours to look for him too."

"Of course, Akefia." The King laughed lowly, watching the pale-eyed man leave the room with a smirk on his face.

Akefia really was furious, and it showed as he practically stomped down the path to head off to Heartland City. His boots made a very loud noise as they crunched the dirt beneath his feet. He really would whip that lion of his, he thought as he clutched his whip in his grasp. First for playing with his hat, second for getting himself pulled into this insane land, and third for running off and being a hypocrite at the sight of him screwing the March Hare.

He barely noticed the path and forest change colour when he stepped over the border between Heartland City and Spades Forest. The dirt path beneath his feet changed to red stone slabs, and the trees themselves switched from dark green foilage to rusty red bark and near black leaves. Akefia stormed on though, determined to find his pet and punish the little devil for causing so much trouble.