Chapter 36: Nunnally in Wonderland.

Villetta had always been ambitious. She had to be when she was the illegitimate child of a servant and her master. She craved elevation, status, and true power. Deprived of assurances of inheritance and given only minimal attention, she vowed never to be vulnerable again. By age ten, when her father's wife bore a daughter and her prospects dimmed, she determined to forge her own path.

Determined, she dedicated herself to excellence. She studied relentlessly, earning exceptional grades, and enlisted in the military at sixteen. By seventeen, she had secured her place among hopeful pilots. Yet during the invasion of Japan, she was barred from piloting a Glasgow—only bona fide nobles could operate them. Though later reforms opened the cockpit, that exclusion underscored her reality: without a true noble bloodline or title, she would never achieve her goals

Undeterred, Villetta rose through the Purebloods, an elite unit where she met Jeremiah, a high-born officer who recognized her talents. Her career, reputation, and future seemed assured, even with the hiccup that was Shinjuku, which Jeremiah could use to their advantage, and she could almost taste the barony she would earn…

Harsh lights snapped on, jarring her thoughts. Villetta’s face twisted in annoyance as that future had long slipped through her fingers.

“From the precipice to this…” she mused, rising from the drab cot in a prisoner’s tunic. The cell mirrored her bleak realization: grey concrete walls; buzzing fluorescent bulbs at each corner; a narrow bed so flat it felt criminally uncomfortable; a sink and toilet wedged together; a small desk and chair standing empty. No books, no pen, no games—but at least, she reminded herself, no roommate who could just as easily make things worse.

As she had expected from her time in this prison, there was a bang at the door. “You know what lights mean.” The guards called out to her as she sighed, but got up.

“I understand, and I’m decent.” She replied, happy that she could sleep in her clothing. She would be damned if she allowed herself to be exposed to these people. Just because they hadn't tried anything didn't mean they wouldn't.

She heard the 2 locks undone through the door, allowing the thick steel-plated wooden door to open. Entering her cell were 2 guards, one armed with a submachine gun aimed squarely at her.

"To the wall, " the non-armed guard ordered, to which Villetta followed without complaint. Moving to the side furthest from her furniture, the armed guard kept her weapon trained on her while the second checked her room. Villetta had come to expect this each morning.

And just like the day before, the check yielded nothing. Then the woman went to check Villetta with a pat-down. Once done, the Black Knight jailor pulled out two sets of cuffs: the first on Villetta's wrists and the next on her ankles.

“She’s secure.” Villetta didn't understand what that meant, but she could pick up on the context and guess it was the same as she always said: that she wasn't a threat.

“All right, to the mess hall for breakfast.” The second nodded before they gestured with their gun to the open door. “Get moving.” Speaking in a language Villetta could understand, she ordered her forward, which again Villetta followed without question. Leaving her cell, which was locked behind her, they escorted her to the mess for breakfast. As they moved, the soldier tried to find something useful.

The building clearly hadn't been designed as a prison, but had been changed into one. She would bet her next 3 meals that the Elevens hadn't done it recently. No, this was the work of the Black Knights, who seemed to have truly not existed for that long. But as she had come to expect from the Elevens playing at chivalry, they hadn't done a terrible job with the facility as it was big, well stocked, with provisions and security measures which made any attempts to break out…ill-advised.

She still recalled how badly that one guy had been beaten after he was caught with a guard's key trying to break out. Their warden had wanted them to know what happened to trouble-makers. But for her, it was all the more reason to find her way out, and possibly do the same for the rest.

'There has to be a clue, a sign of where we are…if I can get that…' She thought, but alas, whatever openings in the roof had been sealed up, and even from her cell, she didn't have a window. In fact, most of the facility was located indoors or in what she assumed was a portion of the old Eleven mining tunnels. Thus, she could go most of her day without seeing real sunlight.

Entering the mess hall was the same as the rest of the place: bare and utilitarian. Metal benches lined up near wall to wall, bolted to the floors. A walkway passed by around the walls, well out of reach of the prisoners, giving the squad armed guards a birds-eye view of the entire space. Her restraints weren't removed; instead, she was directed to join the line for food from the barred-off section, which split the prisoners from the kitchen.

When her time came, she picked one of the trays, held it out, and got a sloppy serving of rice and boiled meat. She couldn't hide her complete disgust at what was being served as food.

The cafeteria lady, another Eleven, similarly couldn't help commenting on Villetta’s face.

“Here you go, for a Pureblood guest.” With how much venom she put into the Pureblood part, Villetta didn't need to look at the rest of the guards or staff to know how much they hated her. Glaring at the woman, she grabbed the bottled water. She turned to find a table, quickly locating one and stomping over the best she could when her legs couldn't move as freely as she wanted.

Frowning, she tried to eat some of her food, only to nearly spit it out as she registered a taste far too salty. Again, her response wasn't unnoticed, as she heard one of the damn cooks joking about adding salt to food that didn't need it because he thought she'd like it.

She nearly snapped, standing up to scream at them for the insult, for the mockery they called for, for treating her like such dirt, but the person seated next to her grabbed her wrist in a vice grip.

“Don’t…” Sigrid Tisdall, one of the first to call this hellhole 'home, uttered, speaking softly to not draw attention to them. Don't antagonise them." Despite her age and having never served, fear gave her the strength to hold onto Villetta’s wrist, but she was sure the younger woman wasn't going to act.

"They hate me already," Villetta muttered, as she hadn’t exactly been treated like an officer since she was captured at Narita. While Cornelia had stamped out most of the issues in the settlements, reports still painted the Purebloods as reviled within the ghettos, the Elevens somehow linking them to Saitama, despite Cornelia choosing not to deploy them. She was surprised that she wasn't just tortured, killed, or…worse.

She had seen how some looked at her, making her skin crawl.

Sigrid sighed, her shoulders slumping further than they already did. “They hate all of us…” She reminded her breakfast mate. The facility didn't just house Code-R researchers from the Delta-4 sight, but criminals, traffickers, gangsters, corrupt officials, and even members of law enforcement.

The Black Knights hadn't just killed those in their raids. No, they slaughtered most, but always captured some to interrogate. But even among corrupt and criminal people, she was reviled. More than even the leader of the Omicron sight, who arrived with most of his people around the same time as Villetta. Why? Because they all believed she revealed everything.

Dates, operations, procedures, supplies, and even the names of her subordinates' families. She had never done something like that, even though all the hours-long sessions of interrogation. Or at least…she couldn't remember doing it, as unlike the rest, before she woke up in that dirty supply room the Black Knights used as her first cell, she could only remember packing up to get off the oil rig.

None believed her—none but Villetta, who had a similar experience from Shinjuku with the loss of her Sutherland.

“You holding up?” Villetta asked, noticing the bags under the older women’s eyes, and how pale she looked.

Sigrid couldn’t help but chuckle at the silly little question. “I’m not wondering how I can use this spoon for anything other than eating…so better.” Though it went unsaid that the spoons were cheap plastic and couldn't do much, Villetta caught it all the same as she reached over the counter and grasped her fellow prisoner’s hand.

“Just hang on, your information would be incredibly useful to the Viceroy.” Villetta tried to cheer her up, a notion she would have found insane not even a week prior, considering who this was. But hard times made for strange bedfellows.

“How do you know she doesn’t already know? God knows what’s been happening since I’ve been captured, since you ended up here.” Sigrid bitterly asked as she stabbed at her rice, as they had no clue what had happened beyond their walls. And since she apparently had already said all she knew to the Black Knights, who could say that the info was useful anymore? The Narita location was hit; the rest could already be targets or have moved out of Area 11 to avoid death or capture.

"It's not even been a week yet," Villetta reminded her. She had been transferred here pretty quickly, and while she had no calendar or means to track the sun, she knew that only about four days had passed since Narita.

"Science might be slow, but the world isn't," Sigrid quipped, though it lacked humour as she took a spoonful of her rice. Swallowing the tasteless slop, she changed the subject. "You think you'll break your record today?"

Villetta frowned but didn't fight her on this. Instead, she continued to converse as she ate her terrible-tasting and salty breakfast, just glad she had an entire bottle of water to wash it down. "I don't even feel the need to; the 'rewards' for doing so aren't all that much."

They weren't kept in their cells all day—oh no, that would be a waste of their labour. Thus, like most regular prisons, they were put to work during the day. One of those jobs, and one which Villetta had been put into, was textile—more accurately, thread rolling—rolling thread onto spools, with the quota given to those in her area being 80 meters.

Villetta managed 104 the previous day, a little more than the previous day, which she cashed in for extra food at dinner. But it wasn't like they had something good, at least not the prisoners, so it was really an additional serving.

“You could always request something different. I’ve been in your cell, it’s as dry as an Area 18 winter.” Sigrid joked that her fellow prisoner didn't request games or books for some reason. Magazines were out, same as newspapers, but they could request parts of both, which didn't give away info on the outside world.

"I'm getting plenty of what I need. I just need a little more time." Villetta replied, though Sigrid could catch that she was onto something. But for both their sakes, she didn't ask in the current company, and they just went back to quietly eating before they were shuffled off to work.

Line Break

While Villetta and others captured by the Black Knights faced a type of wake-up, Nunnally faced a much gentler one. It being so late into October, the rising sun might have offered some warmth, but it couldn’t completely chase away the fall breeze, which brought with it a noticeable chill as the browning and reddening leaves, still in the minority, were carried in the breeze.

Nunnally had no need for an alarm clock, not when the birds, the early risers as they were, woke up with their chirps, cheeps, and morning songs as they welcomed the new day. As she rose from her bed, she could hear them fluttering and flying about, eager to explore the rest of the council building and the gardens outside its walls.

Unlike other mornings, Willy didn't retreat and whine from the morning light. Instead, he let out an excited bark as he patted over to her face, licking at her. Nunnally let out little giggles as she felt the old beagle pawing at her.

"Stop, silly. I'm happy to see you, too," Nunnally giggled as she held onto Willy, only for Cathy to beat Doby to her beat. All three showering Nunnally with affection left her almost buried in happy, excited hounds.

Like clockwork, through the happy whines, barks, and slobbering, Nunnally could hear something at her door, but it wasn't just Sayoko. Her maid, as always, knocked and announced herself, but she also said she had someone else with her. Opening the door, Sayoko and her big brother walked in.

"Good morning, Mistress, and happy birthday," Sayoko greeted Lelouch as he walked over to his sister and found a spot to lay a little kiss on her forehead.

"How does it feel, Nunna, to be one year older?" Lelouch asked.

“It doesn’t feel all that different when you still treat me the same.” Nunnally pouted at him, to which he laughed as he helped free her from the layer of dogs on her.

"And I shall continue to do so as long as I can; I'm quite stubborn." Lelouch joked as she reached for her head, messing with her hair, to which she batted it aside, a cheeky smile forming on her face.

"Well, not today, because today's my special day, so you have to do whatever I say, " she declared, pointing at him. Lelouch quickly bowed, though Sayoko noted that his smile hadn't diminished as she opened the curtains and windows.

“Of course, Mistress. How foolish of me to forget that, can you forgive me for such a novice error?” Lelouch asked, acting like a servant with terrible manners, which only made his sister laugh.

“Hmmm,” Nunnally made a show of thinking it over, petting Willy as she did so before she made her verdict. “Okay, but only if you give me cuddles.”

“At once, mistress Nunna.” Lelouch swept her up, giving her a big hug. Nunnally loved every second of it, peppering his baby sister with love and care before gently placing her back onto her bed.

“Well, I’ll leave Sayoko to help you get ready while I let the animals out. I’ll see you at breakfast, Nunnally.” With that, Lelouch stepped out, leading the dogs so they could stretch their legs and relieve themselves.

Nunnally hummed in delight, waiting a while as her brother’s steps faded into the distance before she turned to Sayoko. “Sayoko, do you know what brother has planned for the day?”

Sayoko didn't nod, Nunnally wouldn't see it; instead, she stuck to verbal responses. "I do, but he requested that I don't spoil it; he had put quite a lot of work into it. I dare say it's the biggest one yet." Sayoko smiled, as Lelouch would never beat those mother bear jokes, certainly not when it came to his sister's birthday, as he always threw all he could into it. The event was the only one in which he and Mistress Milly agreed, and often needed the rest to rein them in.

The response only made Nunnally more curious, but she wouldn't push her friend and maid to divulge. Instead, as Sayoko helped her out of bed and into her wheelchair so they could head to the bathroom, she focused on the surprise.

"I bet this year; we'll have Suzaku around. I asked him yesterday on the phone, and he said he would have time off. Well, his boss said he could because he would have time off." Nunnally giggled a little as she recalled the phone call. Suzaku wasn’t allowed a phone, but his boss, one of them, had let him give away her number.

Because of that, she had been close by when Nunnally called and insisted that Suzaku take the time off. Ms. Cecile reminded her of Milly in a few ways. However, having a woman like that supervising Suzaku helped calm Nunnally when she thought about how Suzaku was still a soldier despite everything.

Sayoko frowned as she opened the bathroom door and wheeled Nunnally in. “Did he not know today was your birthday?”

Nunnally stopped to think about it and found that she had never told Suzaku about her birthday. "I guess not. When we were younger, it never came up. We stayed with his family for over a year before the war, and only Suzaku had a birthday party during that time."

Suzaku's birthday, then, wasn't the biggest event; it was more of a political gathering that she and Lelouch weren't allowed to attend. Suzaku found them afterwards and even brought some of the cake and snacks to share. The only other birthday that happened was Kaguya's…but she was born August 10th.

Shaking her head of such gloomy thoughts, Nunnally tried to focus on the positives. "But I know he'll be there for this one, so I'm really excited." This would be the first time Suzaku would be present for one, and she wanted him to have as much fun as possible to make up for all the ones he missed.

Line Break

"Well, here's the birthday girl," C.C. greeted Nunnally as he entered the dining room. Lelouch was already present and seated as he nursed a cup of coffee while he read the morning paper.

“Good morning, Claude.” Nunnally smiled as she took her regular spot, only to notice something off. “What’s that smell?” Nunnally had grown used to plenty of scents over the years, but for a while now, when it came to breakfasts, it was typically an Eastern Britannian dish of bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, and pancakes or an old Boston breakfast of beans, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bacon, sausage, and eggs.

But while she could make out the Old Boston breakfast smell of deep, umami-rich steam of fried meats, tomatoes, beans, and toast, there was something else. A soft, almost perfume scent of floral-honey with…was that saffron?

C.C. smiled as she placed the bowl of strange, white, creamy-like food in front of Nunnally. She couldn't see it, but Nunna could taste the faint hits of almonds and dried raspberries, two things C.C. had used to top the dish.

“A little something I’ve picked up over the years, it’s an appropriate dish for a birthday breakfast.” She replied, giving Nunnally a quick hug and whispering happy birthday to her before she pulled back and sat next to Lelouch.

“It smells delicious.” Nunnally smiled, as this was entirely new to her, but she couldn't find anything in its scent that would be off-putting.

"Yes, well, a girl should learn how to cook if she plans to feed herself on more than store-bought things," C.C. replied as she started to eat her breakfast, which, like Lelouch's, was a typical Old Boston, though she took orange juice with it over coffee.

Lelouch looked over his newspaper towards C.C. "Says the woman who eats pizza, got breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

“It’s a suitable food for such meals, you’re just overly picky.” Nunnally chuckled at how Claude just brushed aside her brother's complaint. However, she was curious about Claude's health, as eating pizza daily couldn't be good for you. “Now, as for this, it’s kasza manna na mleku z szafranem.”

“Pardon?” Nunnally asked, frowning as she tried and failed to pronounce the name. It sounded impossibly foreign, which it was. It was, after all, a dish of Polish descent. However, C.C. doubted Nunnally or even Lelouch would know what that meant, considering Poland didn't exist and hadn't for over 200 years.

Damn shame, too, as even the E.U., for all its arrogance, rabbling of equality, liberty, and national determination, didn't have a Polish state or recognise Polish as a language of the E.U.

She had Polish friends once upon a time who loved their state and fought for it, mainly dying to keep it alive.

“It’s semolina porridge with milk and saffron. Go on, have a taste.” She used its translated name. Nunnally, having no reason not to, picked up a spoon and took a little of it before she tasted it. If her eyes had been open, they would have widened as the taste hit her tongue.

It was creamy, almost like crème de riz, but also carried a texture similar to custard, being gentle, smooth, and only a little thick. It was sweet, but not too sugary, almost like a well-made dessert pudding. The saffron added a floral aroma with a dash of honey and an earthy, hay-like undertone. The Almonds, which she noticed were crushed, and dried fruit gave it additional texture and familiarity not just to foods she’s had, but to her time as a princess and the lavish meals they would eat.

As she thought about those days, thanks to the refined, perfumed taste, she couldn't help but shed a tear, which Sayoko and Lelouch caught, but before they could act-

"It's incredible, I've never had something like this. Where did you learn how to make it?" Nunnally asked, wiping away the tears of nostalgia and joy as she continued to eat the porridge, savouring each spoonful.

C.C., having suspected she knew why Nunnally was so emotional, felt like she had done a job well done with her food choice. “I travelled around Eastern Europe for a time; this dish was popular with wealthy people." She kept it vague, as she couldn't very well reveal how old she was to Nunnally, as that could lead to questions neither she nor her contrac…her lover would want.

“Big brother, Sayoko, you have to try this.” Nunnally looked to where she knew both were.

Sayoko, seated at Nunnally’s side, had to refuse. "I'm afraid we must decline. Ms. Claude only made enough for you on your birthday, " she informed her, which saddened the exiled princess a little. She wished to share this with them, but neither was too embarrassed.

“Don't worry about us. When lunch and dinner come, you'll see that we'll be spoilt for choice, so eat it, Nunna. We have a long day ahead," Lelouch told her.

Line Break

When breakfast ended, Nunnally was taken to the empty room. The rest said that they needed to handle something before they could return. However, after a while, nothing happened. Sayoko, Claude, and Lelouch all seemed to be done. Just as Nunnally was about to get worried and angry with them, something did happen.

“Come here.” She heard a recording speak, one which wasn’t in a voice she recognised. Turning her head, she wondered as to what it could be, and why it was there, only for the recording to continue. “You must be looking for the Mad Hatter, Dodo, and Cheshire Cat. They aren't here right now, Nunnally, but if you take this, then you'll be able to find them.”

As the recording went on, Nunnally wheeled herself towards its source, finding that there was a table placed to the side. On it was a tape recorder, the source of the voice. Next to it was a wrapped piece of candy…didn't brother make this last night?

Lastly, next to the piece of candy she pocketed was a cup. Nunnally wondered about its contents or reasoning, but a slip of paper was folded next to it. Picking it up, she unfolded it and found that it had something written in braille.

"Drink me, and you'll be big enough to leave." Nunnally sounded it as her finger moved over the bumps. "What does it mean 'big enough?' Is this a joke from your brother? I'm not that small, and I'm still growing." A little upset at what seemed a joke at her expense, Nunnally drank the drink anyway.

As soon as she finished the drink, the door was nearly kicked down as someone came rushing in. Nunnally nearly dropped the cup in fright. "Hello," A familiar voice said.

“Kallen?” Nunnally asked, unknown to her, Kallen wasn't dressed in her typical uniform. Instead, she wore a yellow jersey with an odd crest on its left breast pocket. Underneath, she wore a white dress shirt, red tie, and green and yellow striped skirt. The look is finished off by a long, white Rabbit's ears pocking out of her hair, their band hidden by the large white beret, and a fluffy white rabbit’s tail attached to the skirt, right above her butt.

Kallen, acting the part, seemed confused by the question. “Whose Kallen? I’m the March Hare. I felt someone drink the tea, and came rushing in because it’s meant for a little lady named Nunnally.” She looked at the empty cup, vocally worried about the change.

Nunnally leaned her head to the side in confusion. “But I’m Nunnally.”

“You are? Oh well, you are then.” The March Hare sighed, relieved that it wasn’t a mistake, but that left a question. “Say, Nunnally, why’d you drink the tea? Do you want to venture out?”

"It said it'll help me find the Mad Hatter, Dodo, and Cheshire Cat," Nunnally replied, as she guessed that the group was putting on a performance for her, and that they got the entire council in on it if this was how far they were going.

The March Hare bristled at the call out of the three names. "Those three? Oh, I am so cross with them. They just up and vanished, and we were meant to host a tea party with the Mad Hatter." The March Hare complained, her foot, which was covered in a rabbit-themed boot, loudly tapping at the floor in irritation.

“Does he do this a lot?” Nunnally asked, not knowing what was happening or why, but curious about what this was all about.

"Like you wouldn't believe, that Mad Hatter is mad in the head, he has no respect for time. Wait a second, you can help!" The March Hare realised as she approached and took Nunnally's hands into her own.  "You drank the tea, which means you can find where we are, then we can have our tea party." She smiled, Nunnally getting that this tea party was important.

"Oh...oh okay, I'll help find them." Knowing that, how could she refuse? Besides, she was having a little fun, and things had just started. Who knew where they'd go from there?

"Super, real great thing from you, Nunnally. Now, with you, I guess the first place to do would be to see White Rabbit, she might know something." The March Hare replied as she moved to take Nunnally's wheelchair and move her out of the room and the council building.

"Oh, and why didn't you go then? I can't say I know where to look," Nunnally said, her nose picking up an odd set of scents in the air. The school…did they do something different lately? Plant some new flowers, as this didn't smell like the typical route she took.

She was right on the money, though it wasn't the school that planted the new flowers or added new…additions to the school. It was hard work, but when you have the pull Lelouch did, it could get done and get done fast.

The March Har thumped her foot against the floor once more. "White Rabbit is a stubborn little rabbit. She won't talk to me because she doesn't like that she's the second Rabbit in the lands, but she'll talk to you."

Nunnally chuckled into her hand, finding Kallen's jealousy over this other Rabbit funny. "Can't there be two rabbits?"

The March Hare refused to even entertain such a thought. "Nope, absolutely, positively not! It messes up the time to have two rabbits, but she refuses to be made into rabbit stew to fix it."

Moving along the route, which had been rapidly redecorated and had no sounds or smells, Nunnally and the March Hare continued to discuss things, Nunnally learning a little more about the missing 3.

The Mad Hatter was eccentric, manic. Very talkative about the oddest of topics, excitable, but much to the March Hare's annoyance, the Mad Hatter was also whimsical and thus, prone to doing stuff like this, like vanishing without a word or a hair to anyone.

The Cheshire Cat was even worse. She, too, was quite whimsical, but she was also very playful, mischievous, and enigmatic. One could never know what was happening in her feline head. All the March Hare could tell her was that, for some reason, the Mad Hatter was fascinated with her, and he often let her drag her into all sorts of mischief, leaving poor March Hare to bail them both out.

Dodo was the odd one of the bunch, as she wasn't like the other two. Being a bird of few words, she is well-meaning, but also fussy, forgetful, and absurd at times. Nunnally asked why she would hang out with the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat, and the best March Hare could tell her was that perhaps she got roped into something, or tried to stop them, but forgot what was wrong with it.

"They seem to be a handful," Nunnally replied to all that.

"Yes, they are," The March Hare replied, still smiling. "But they are my friends, and I like my friends very much. So, thank you again for helping me find them before tea-time.”

“No problem. Ms. Hare.” Nunnally replied, to which the March hare let out a tut-tut-tut.

“Oh no, I’m not Ms. Hare. That’s my mother. Call me March Hare.” March Hare replied, which sounded silly to Nunnally.

“And why not just Hare then?” She asked.

“Because that was my grandfather,” March Hare replied, but seemed to pause as she thought about something. "Though people called him October Hare when he was around, do you know why?" She asked Nunnally, who shook her head. “Hmm, pity, I thought you could tell me.” At the retort, both girls giggled as they finally reached their destination.

A small house, it had been the meeting room for one of Ashford's defunct clubs. It hadn't been reassigned to another club yet, but for today, it’ll serve as the home to the White Rabbit.

Approaching the door, Nunnally asked to be the one to open things. Knocking on the door, she called out, "Hello, is this the home of the White Rabbit? I would like to speak with them." After her polite request, the door was opened almost immediately.

Stepping out was Alice, though she, like Kallen, was dressed differently. Instead of her school uniform or one of the many other outfits she's since acquired after coming to Ashford, she was dressed in a style reminiscent of a Middle Eastern dancer, with jewels around her belly and neck. Her Rabbit features differed from the March Hare's only in how her ears were longer, but they dropped, falling from her head with the tips around where her forearms were.

"I am the White Rabbit. Who are you?" The White Rabbit, perhaps rudely, asked.

"My name is Nunnally, and I'm looking for 3 people. I'm hoping you could help." Nunnally didn't let Alice's odd rudeness get to her. This was all pretend, was it not?

“Who’s that?” The White Rabbit asked, only to pause when she saw who Nunnally was with. "Oh, you have the fake Rabbit with you. Go away."

The March Hare gasped at that. "Fake? I'll have you know I was born and raised a Hare, while you're just a fake!"

The White Rabbit huffed. "I am the cutest Rabbit in all of Wonderland, the only Rabbit in Wonderland. It's you who is the fake."

“Oh, why I outta-” Before the two could get into an argument, Nunnally spoke up.

“Please don’t fight,” Nunnally quickly thought of a means to foster peace, but then recalled something she had taken earlier. Reaching for her pocket, she pulled out the perfectly wrapped piece of candy her brother had left for her. “Would you help us if I handed you this sweet?”

She didn't see it, but she could hear Alice gasp at the sight of the sugary treat in her hand. "Oh, have some moon chocolates? They're super rare. Only the Queen of Hearts has them." Nunnally wondered who the Queen of Hearts was, but that would come later.

“Well, I have one, and would hand it over if you help.” Nunnally proposed.

“Okay.” The White Rabbit was quick to agree, taking the offered candy and snacking on it, and Nunnally was sure that the hmm that Alice let out wasn’t just for show, her brother was a wizard in the kitchen. "So, who are you looking for?"

"The Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the Dodo." She replied.

“Oh, the Dodo is inside. She came when the Duchess came to visit. Do you want to speak with her?” The White Rabbit replied, gesturing into the building, pausing when she recalled that Nunnally couldn't see it.

"Yes, please." If Nunnally picked up on the misstep, she didn’t say anything.

Entering the place, like most of the school, had been changed overnight into a homely-looking abode. But it wasn't just the White Rabbit and Dodo who were present; there was another familiar voice.

"The Wonderful Broken Heart Contest. The Wonderland Bravest Declaration of Love Test. The Wonderland Couple Swapping Battle. No, no, and no-they don't fit…hmm, what to do, what to do?” Nunnally heard Milly speaking to herself as she marched back and forth, contemplating something.

“Duchess, we have a guest.” The White Rabbit spoke up, drawing Milly’s attention.

"So we do, greeting, little one. I am the Duchess." The ‘duchess’ was dressed for the part, wearing an elaborate purple dress with a darker purple corset that drew attention to her narrow waist and large bust. Atop her head, she wore a purple hat with a light purple scarf draped around her elbows.

“Hello to you, I am Nunnally.” Nunnally greeted, wondering just how much her brother had done for this entire event to work.

"She's looking for the Dodo, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter." The White Rabbit explained, but it seemed like the Duchess wasn't listening.

"Hmm, I got it! The next event will be Wonderland's Nunnally Appreciation Day!" she declared with all the gravitas and ego one would expect from a noble. Nunnally had to hand it to Milly. She was great at suppressing her more goofy self while still acting goofy.

“Hold on a moment, we have a tea party later. We can’t have both on the same day!” The March Hare refused such a declaration.

The Duchess waved it off. “Well, the Mad Hatter’s not around, so there.”

“Nunnally’s helping me to find him and that silly old cat. And speaking of it,” The March Hare sounded smug about them, only to trail off as she saw something, or more accurately, someone off to the side. “Dodo, what are you doing?”

Sayoko, wearing a silly Dodo costume, seemed slow to respond. “I was with Mad Hatter and Chesire Cat,” she said, pausing to think about what she had been doing before continuing. But then I saw something off here when we stopped back, and I needed to investigate.”

“And what was it?” The March Hare asked, her foot thumping away in irritation.

Dodo hummed in thought before she recalled something. "I can't quite recall, but it was something important and bad." The March Hare was quite unhappy with this response.

“Well, we found one of them, that counts for something, right?” Nunnally tried to see the bright side in this.

“Oh, I suppose. I suppose it does, yes.” The March Hare replied, her speech coming off as weird to Nunnally…well, weirder than before.

“Well, then we can celebrate! My cook is preparing a wonderful meal for us.” The Duchess declared, seeing this as a victory.

As she spoke, the Cook entered the space, pushing a tray covered in treats. "The food is ready! Oh, I didn't know we were having guests. I would have prepared more." Nina perhaps sounded the most like herself, though Nunnally could suspect it was hard enough for the typically shy and reserved Nina to participate and was happy she found the courage for it.

“It smells interesting. What is it?" Nunnally asked, as she was tracing too many contradictory scents now.

"Oh, it's sweet and sour strawberry stew, garlic bread with strawberry and salmon, and strawberry with a side of rice." The Cook replied, presenting three dishes that looked like a child had been allowed to dictate the cooking process.

“That sounds….” Nunnally didn't know how to react, but didn't want to come off as rude either.

“Does it taste okay?” The White Rabbit didn’t care from her tone.

"Would it be something we can eat now and still have time for the tea party later?" The March Hare asked.

The Cook was silent momentarily before she let out a concerning giggle. "It'll be all that and more, because it's a delicious and powerful strawberry, the miracle food."

The Duchess sighed, saddened by the meal offering, and moved to try and get something else done. “Sorry, but could you perhaps prepare something else-”

Expectantly, the cook exploded at that. "Duchess, you always do this! You always ask me to do my best, but you never eat it! That is very unfair and very rude."

"It's just that you always had strawberries with all you prepare. Not just desserts and breads, but also meats and soups. It's not something you should just put like a spice." The Duchess explained, but that only seemed to anger the Cook more.

“Don’t you dare call strawberries a mere spice, it’s far greater than such things!”

"So you admit it's not a spice and insist it be added to everything?" Nunnally asked, wondering just how Nina could add this…insanity to her performance, or was it closer to just resentment?

Before the argument could progress, the Dodo spoke up once more. “Oh wait, now I remember! Oh yes, I was here to stop the cook from using all the strawberries. We needed some for the cake for the tea party later.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a little container housing strawberries. "Good thing I took some earlier, now…I was supposed to give them to…the Walrus, yes. Mad Hatter was very insistent that Walrus get these."

“Do you know she is?” Nunnally asked, but the Dodo shook her head.

“No.”

"We know where she is." Rivalz entered through the still-open door, followed by Shirley. "And we know where the Carpenter is; it's by the river." He started.

"Oh yes, you were with Mad Hatter, weren't you, Dormouse?" Duchess asked, as Rivalz, like the rest, was in character as the Dormouse, complete with a mouse-themed costume, painted-on whiskers, and mouse ears fixed in his hair.

"I was, but they left, and I took a nap. Fawn found me and brought me here for the Duchess party," Dormouse gestured to Fawn. Shirley was wearing a deer-themed costume similar to her school-issued swimsuit, only with additional furry boots, elbow-length sleeves, and deer ears fixed in her own hair.

"It looks like the party has been cancelled, though," Fawn noted as she looked around the room, not that Duchess let that stop her, as she made another declaration.

"Well, we can have an even bigger tear party to make up for it. We just need to find where that pesky Mad Hatter and that naughty Cheshire Cat wound up."

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Bidding farewell to the Duchess, Cook, and White Rabbit, Nunnally and March Hare, Dodo Dormouse, and Fawn made their way towards the river. As they travelled, they came across a fork in the path. Both led down to the river, but Dormouse did not know which part of the river the Carpenter and Walrus were in.

Lucky for them, they found Sancia and Dalque standing at the fork, or as they introduced themselves, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, who claimed to be twins. This confused the March Hare, as they looked nothing alike, and when Dodo asked, they said they had different birthdays. But they insisted they were twins.

Nunnally asked which road to take to reach the Carpenter and Walrus, and they came to opposite answers. The twins then argued over anything and everything. Nunnally needed to serve as the tie-breaker even as the topics became increasingly sillier and obscure. However, when asked which was cuter, the March Hare or the White Rabbit, she was saved from needing to answer when Dormouse declared the Duchess the cutest.

That seemed to be the only thing the twins could agree on: that the dormouse was wrong. With peace restored between them, they told her to follow the path with joy, so Nunnally picked the left.

Walking down the left path, they soon came across a big wall, atop which sat an egg girl, who looked very sad. Lucretia introduced herself as Humpty Dumpty, and she was sad because she had no one to talk to. Nunnally stepped up to be that person, and they talked about many things, many of which confused and fascinated the girl. From how the stars were made of cheese, the moon was a big giant's eye he left and was looking for, and how she and Mad Hatter had been discussing something when he was taken away by Cheshire Cat, who had seen something that drew her eye.

Humpty Dumpty didn't know where they went, but she knew they would find the Carpenter and the Walrus if they went further down the path.

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"Hello there!" a voice called out, rushing over. I thought I heard someone, and I couldn't help but want to invite you over!" a man wearing a blue outfit and white apron cheerfully stated.

“Invite me over, for what?” Nunnally asked, wondering to whom this was.

“Well, for this delicious meal.” The man replied, gesturing to the picnic behind him.

Cecile elbowed Lloyd for that, as it seemed like he forgot that the birthday girl was blind.

Focusing more on the performance, she put on her best smile as she introduced herself: "Hello. I'm Walrus, and this is my friend, Carpenter. We came today to have a picnic by the river." Cecile, much like her boss, was dressed for the part. She wore a dark pink top with extended sleeves that left her belly exposed with a boob window. For pants, she seemed to be part Walrus, having a grey tail.

“And Walrus made such a special lunch, I couldn’t just keep it to ourselves, so I just had to share!” Carpenter added.

“And you seem quite happy about that, Mr. Carpentar.” Walrus mused, smiling the entire time as Carpenter’s smile grew strained.

"Not at all, I'm just happy to be able to spread this meal to someone I know would appreciate it," Carpenter explained, though March Hare seemed to know best, but didn’t speak.

"Hmm, well, it is nice to share, and we wouldn't want to fill our bellies before Mad Hatter's tea party." Walrus started, which drew Nunnally's attention.

“You know where I can find him?” She asked the two, to which they both nodded before speaking.

"Hmm, yes. They saw the Knight of the White carrying something, and the Cheshire Cat wanted it." The Walrus pointed down the road, different from the one that had come down.

"She wanted it really badly, and said it was something fun looking, so Mad Hatter went with her to follow the Knight of the White to get it," Carpenter added, which only upset Dormouse and Fawn.

“Oh no, that wasn’t very smart.” Fawn worried.

"Yes. The Knight of the Nine looked really cross earlier. If they try to take something, he'll arrest them. And take them to the Queen of Hearts." Dormouse added.

“Off with their heads, but it’s okay. They can put them back on, no problem.” Dodo stated, unbothered by such a fate.

“We should help, shouldn’t we, Nunnally?” March Hare wasn't like Dodo; she wanted to act, and so did Nunnally.

"Yes, it wouldn't be right to let them lose their heads. We should save them, and then we can have a big tea party and eat this food there," Nunnally declared, fully invested in whatever story was being told and performed.

“Lovely idea, let’s get to it.” Carpenter was quick to change sides on this.

“Weren’t you so excited for the food, Carpenter? Why the change?” Walrus asked him, and he quickly searched for a response that wouldn't upset Walrus.

"Oh, well, I can better enjoy the food and music with a friend, can I not? Besides, if I wait, I'll be hungrier later, meaning it'll taste better." He explained, hoping that Walrus would buy it.

Walrus seemed to think about him for a while, which only built up Carpenter's nerves. Still, eventually, she replied, "Oh, that is true. Now then, let's get to looking."

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Hmm, this chapter was a bit of a doozy for 2 reasons. The first was that when I worked on the final draft of the plans for the story, I had only penned in Kallen's birthday, completely forgetting that Nunnally was born in October. Unlike R1's canon, which started in August and ends around in September, this story started in September(because it made more sense for the school year) and is already approaching the end of October….yeah, a lot happened in basically a month.

The second reason is…well, I hadn't planned for Lelouch to attack even just the first Code-R sight. Instead, like I've said previously, he was meant to battle Cornelia at Saitama, which, as you must have seen, never happened because it didn't make sense. No, I don't know how I didn't realise that sooner. So, he's come into possession of info he didn't have in canon, and has taken steps based on that which he didn't, making navigating this late state of R1 a little tricky for me.

But it's not impossible! And with that 'Don't quit till the fat Eunuch sings' energy, I was able to write something I'm really proud of. It picks up on several of those changes and set-up from previous chapters.

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As you can imagine, there was more to this, but time is of the essence, and I wasn't planning on writing such an intricate thing for Nunnally. So hopefully, this was a nice little soft chapter, as while we haven't had a super serious one in a couple of weeks, we're scheduled for one next week, which relates to the second Kyoto meeting hinted at in the last chapter.

And yes, I looked up the timeline. Lelouch and Nunnally arrived in Japan in the spring of 2009, so they could have celebrated their birthdays in Japan, but…well, they weren't in the position or headspace for it. Even Suzaku's was more ceremonial than anything else. Kaguya’s birthday was similar, but as they weren’t close to her then, they weren’t invited to the first on in 09, and in 2010…it was the day of the invasion, so I can see her having mixed feelings about it now, seeing it as just a reminder that another year has come and gone without Japan being freed from Britannia.