A Hatter's Grievance (Mario The Music Box Arc - Wonderland)

1. Absent Guest

'Such a long time. A long time since I have last seen him. Any longer and he may miss tea time. All the guests are ever so impatient and wish to begin. I cannot possibly begin before he arrives. Whatever could have happened to make him so late? Perhaps his watch is slow by a few hours or even days. I do wish he would arrive soon. My watch does not tick any slower. It is almost time.'

A lone table in the middle of a dark forest's clearing outside of a small cottage sits silently, many empty chairs surrounding it with many tea cups and cutlery decorated throughout. A single person sits on the far end of the table, looking down at his pocket watch worriedly. He has a dapper blue top hat with card symbols decorated along its ribbon, as well as a white rose and a card attached reading 10/6. He wears a blue and green checkered coat with a high collar and a long polka-dot bowtie of the same colour scheme. He has noticeable dark circles under his eyes and a dead look shining in his emerald irises. He remains seated in his chair, as he has been for too long. He awaits someone, a guest that will never arrive, that he remains hopeful for. His dear friend, the March Hare. One he prays turns up soon.

'What am I to do? I cannot simply leave all these guests without their tea. But I cannot start without him. My only option is to wait here a little longer. He would never miss tea time. He would never leave me all alone at our favourite time of day. We have so much to do and converse about. He would never leave me all alone. I just need to wait. He will arrive in time.'

The lone hatter hangs his head, repeating the same word in his head over and over again. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time. Time.

At that moment, a person appears from the darkness of the forest, a confused man with an ebony-black moustache dressed in a white collar shirt and a blue vest decorated with red card symbols, as well as a red and gold bowtie around his neck. He wears darker blue pants and maroon shoes with blue belts wrapped around them with golden symbols of hearts and spades added to them. Atop his head is light brown fluffy hair and a little red top hat with a spade symbol attached to match his ocean-blue eyes and spade pupils.

This unknown stranger traverses into the clearing, peeking out from behind one of the trees as he gazes at the almost empty table with curiosity and caution present in his eyes. The lone hatter has not yet noticed the stranger's presence until he steps toward the opposing end of the table, leaning in to get a closer look at the hatter and accidentally knocking one of the tea cups onto the ground. This causes the hatter's eyes to snap up and onto the stranger, his emerald eyes going blank as his gaze is fixed on him. The stranger retracts his hands from the table with caution and quickly stammers an apology.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that," he says as he kneels down to pick up the slightly chipped tea cup and places it back on the table. The hatter does not respond or look away from the stranger for a second, still fixating his attention on the man. The hatter is far on the other side of the table for the stranger to properly see his face, especially with all the fog in the atmosphere, yet the stranger can still see his green eyes fixed on him.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you, but I don't know where I am. If you would be so kind as to give me directions of some sort or to tell me where exactly I am, that would be very helpful," The stranger states with a friendly, yet nervous, smile. The hatter still remains silent and unmoving, causing the stranger to feel a twinge of discomfort. He looks down, wondering what to say to the motionless hatter from across the table, before meeting his unbroken gaze once more.