genessia | (no subject)

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[ Action; Genessia Commonspace Hallways ]

[ Sorry were you expecting a normal trip back to your room or perhaps your friend's room? Because right in the middle of the hall is a girl with brightly colored hair having herself a nice hot cup of tea. Instead of saving up her money she apparently decided that buying a teapot and a matching cup was far more important to her. Anyone who comes near her, she tips her hat off to them with a bright smile. ]

Would you like a cup of tea~?

[ Action; Genessia City ]

[ After realizing that she not only "fell down" the wrong rabbit hole and ended up in this place, and realizing that getting back home wasn't going to be simple... at all, instead of getting upset about it all and causing a fuss, Maddie was all for exploring the city. To get a better look at the world and all the people who live here, what better way was there than to get a new view!

The world would look a lot different upside down, which was why Maddie decided to roam around walking on her hands.]

[ Video ]

A moment of time if you will~ I have an important question that just needs answering!

[ She clears her throat a little. ]

Why did the teapot wear a cozy?

[ Yep, extremely important. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Queen of Hearts?

Regina froze in her tracks. Mother cannot be here. She needed to talk to Neil. Immediately. And Evie. And--

Take a breath already, Regina.

"What do you know about the Queen of Hearts?" she asked as pleasantly as she could, when what she wanted to do was start casting wards keyed to someone else's blood so her mother couldn't get through them.

"What do I know? What do I know?? Pffft!" Maddie laughs at the question as if it were the silliest thing she's heard all day. Who hasn't heard of the Queen of Hearts after all. She's only the Queeniest Queen of Wonderland! She jumps to her feet and clears her throat.

"Who hasn't heard of the Queen of Hearts with all of her Off with your head! You missed tea time off with your Head," Maddie mimics the Queen by making throat cutting motions with her hands. "Why it's not a party until the Queen shows up after all. Everyone in Wonderland knows that."

Not Mother, then. Cora Mills had taken heads and hearts, but she'd never have shouted 'Off with his head' and rarely shouted anything else. Not the way Maddie's implying.

"Just as well you know that version of her. She's much less terrifying than the original," was what Regina replied. "You haven't seen her here, though, have you?"

Maddie shook her head with a tiny frown. While it was exciting to find someone who knew what she was talking about, at least vaguely! It was a little disappointing because she didn't know anyone here. The closest thing she's found to a companion was the Cheshire cat, and while he wasn't Maddie's Cheshire friend, somehow it didn't seem to matter. A Wonderlander is a Wonderlander no matter what strange world they come from!

"I'm afraid not. I haven't seen a single card, a rabbit lost on time, a flying tea kettle, or a Queen of Hearts."

"She's..." Maddie was a child, even if she was a strange one. Regina reminded herself of that and tempered her response. "Not a nice person. I ought to know, since she's my mother."

Which wasn't something she generally admitted, but the child was newly here and probably alone. Connections made it easier. Like Evie had for her.

"Your mother?!" Maddie claps her hands to her cheeks, but the look on her face isn't one of fear or anything like that. In fact the twinkle in her eyes look more excited than anything.

"I never knew Lizzie had a pretty older sister! If only she were here now I'd tell her right away!"

Same story, different people, Regina reminded herself. And also reminded herself to be glad that Maddie didn't know Zelena.

"Maddie, dear. Have you ever heard of an alternate universe?" It seemed a less painful explanation than that they were all stories.

She let out a soft hum as she thought on the question. A head tilt here and a chin tap there before she nods her head with a bright smile. Luckily for Regina, this kind of talk is easily accepted by Madeline. It might just be because she's from Wonderland, or that she's used to this type of thing.

"I have I have~! In fact I've met an alternate version of the cheshire cat. He's an absolute riot," she says with a big smile on her face.

An absolute riot and a mangy purple furball, depending one what version of the Cat he was, but Regina kept that opinion to herself. At least Maddie wasn't going to collapse and cry a Vale of Tears over it all.

"Good, then you won't be surprised if I say that you and I are from them. In my world, the Queen of Hearts, my mother, was once the Miller's Daughter, who Rumplestiltskin taught to spin straw into gold. And my sister is the Wicked Witch of the West."

Regina paused then, because she didn't want to scare the girl, but considering who she was and all of the people they sort of knew in common, she didn't want to lie to her either. She was canny behind that ditzy shell, and eventually she'd figure it out. She'd rather tell her herself.

Maddie nodded along, but instead of a look of terror it just seemed like Regina's words excited her. It was so much fun to learn about other worlds, other lands, and alternate versions of everyone!

"Sounds like you grew up in a very busy way with such madness roaming around!"

"You could say that," came Regina's wry response. "I didn't exactly turn out well, since I am, was, the Evil Queen."

Since Maddie didn't seem the type to shriek and flail, Regina didn't rush to reassure her she wouldn't hurt her. For all her flapping about, she listened very well.

"Seriously? I never would have guessed!"

That was enough to actually make her put her tea down. The Evil Queen in most worlds is an evil lady, wanting to be the best, the most beautiful, so on and so forth, but this woman has been nothing but pleasant company this whole time! She was nothing like the Evil Queen who put a curse upon Wonderland. Or the Evil Queen who tricked Apple into letting her out of the evil Mirror! This woman was so... well nice!

"For an Evil Queen you aren't all that Evil."

"Formerly evil. I gave it up a few years ago, and now I'm trying very hard to be good."

Regina finally joined Maddie on the floor. In part because revealing herself to anyone was exhausting, but in part because it had been a long week and why not?

"I don't suppose I could have a cup of tea?"

"Aaaah~ so you're more on the Raven side of things now," she let out a giggle. It didn't even occur to her that Regina wouldn't have a clue who Raven was.

"Hopefully you don't mind the taste of Peppermint, that's what I decided to buy for now."

She poured a cup for Regina with a bright smile on her face. She never minded sharing tea with others, especially when they gave such lovely conversations. It must be a hatter thing.

"Peppermint will be nice and refreshing, thank you." She offered Maddie a polite and pleasant smile as she held out her hand for the tea cup.

"What do you mean by 'on the Raven side of things'?" There no Ravens who she could think of in her knowledge of the Wonderland and Enchanted Forest stories, other than the inevitable harbinger type crows that littered the dramatic backdrops.

She handed the tea over to Regina with a bright smile, only to go back to sipping her own.

"Well you see, in my side of the time line, Raven is your daughter. And she's destined to become the next Evil Queen, but she doesn't want to be the Evil Queen. She wants to be something else!" Maddie speaks as if it all makes complete sense, but it probably only does to her.

"Like Evie," Regina murmured, not thrown by the talk of destiny and 'the next Evil Queen'. It wasn't how it worked in her world, but she recalled hearing of versions of the fairy tales that worked like this. She assumed that Maddie was from one of those stories.

"It makes sense. I never wanted to be the Evil Queen either." She sipped her tea while she reflected on her past, for not even close to the first time this week. "I never wanted to be Queen at all."

"Never? Never ever? Not even a Good Queen? What did you want to be?"

Maddie actually seemed surprised. She wasn't used to others who didn't want to become kings and queens. Did that mean Regina was a rebel too? She would definitely fight right in back home!

"I wanted to be free." Between the crisp mint of the tea and the fact that she spoke to a bright young child, Regina managed to hold back the emotion that the topic usually summoned. "I wanted to marry our stableboy and have a family, be happy and be no one important.

"It was my mother who wanted to be queen, and before she went to Wonderland, she lived through me." She set the tea down in its saucer and smiled a bit ruefully. "What do you want to be?"

Maddie gave Regina a soft frown as she reached over to pat her shoulder. She'd usually run over to hug anyone she was trying to comfort but since she was new here, she figured that might have to wait for a bit.

"Me? Well I'm a destiny follower~ When I'm older I'll become the next Mad Hatter of Wonderland~! I can definitely understand why others wouldn't want to follow their destinies, and I am definitely for them finding what makes them happy, but taking after my father is what I've always dreamed of!"

If Regina's surprised by the sympathy, it's difficult to tell from her expression. Her eyes widen slightly, but that could as easily be from Maddie's desire to follow in her father's footsteps as anything.

"And...in your story, what exactly is it that the Mad Hatter does?"

"Well you know, all the typical hattery things. Throwing tea parties, inviting a bit of madness into the world.... Oh! And my father has a tea shoppe back home as well!"

It all seemed a lot nicer than the life poor Jefferson had to put up with.

"That sounds remarkably pleasant for a Hatter." She couldn't help but think of Jefferson and how unpleasant she'd made his life, but even how unpleasant it had been before her involvement.

"What will you do here?"

"I haven't really given it much thought yet. The lovely princess in the white dress on the cute little magical hologram said I should be looking for a job, but right now it feels like the time to look for a good pot of tea instead."

Because there is nothing more important than a good cup of tea, unless you get the honey of a bee.

Regina considered the child again as she sipped her tea. "And how old are you, dear?" Because that would make a difference in how Regina felt about leaving her to her own devices.