Mallymkun and the March Hare sprang to their feet, their faces hopeful, when she emerged. Behind a fretful McTwisp, the Tweedles clustered together with Bayard, and Mirana's arms floated out from her sides as she leaned forward expectantly. Alice felt the weight of her friends' eyes on her. 

"He doesn't even know who I am," she admitted mournfully. 

At once, the group's faces all fell. Alice bit her lip and trudged¹ dejectedly away from the door. The Hatter had always been so confident in her, even when she wasn't sure of herself. On her last trip to Underland, he'd insisted she was the Alice, the one they'd been waiting for, regardless of what anyone else said. Now he treated her like a stranger. 

"What's happened to him?" Alice asked. 

"It's as we feared." Mirana's voice trembled. "He's caught a terrible case of the Forgettingfulness." 

"The Forgettingfulness?" Alice repeated as they headed into the village. 

"It all goes back to the Horunvendush Day," Mirana said. She stopped by a fountain and waved her hand over the water. In the spray, images of a fair ground with colorful booths and smiling people appeared. 

"He has always somehow blamed himself for his family's death," Mirana continued as Alice recognized Hatter's relatives in the scene. 

In it, Zanik and Tyva Hightopp stood talking under an old oak tree. His cousins loudly raced past as his aunt and uncle paused next to a DRINK ME stall. 

A trumpet² blare announced the arrival of Mirana, who rode a white horse, the White Knight³ and Hatter following on foot behind her. Spotting his family, Hatter tentatively raised one hand to wave just as a dark shadow loomed⁴ overhead. 

With a defiant⁵ shriek⁶, the Jabberwocky dove out of the sky. It roared out a stream of fire, lighting⁷ up booths and banners. Crackling sounds and smoke filled the air. 

As the White Knight charged forward to face the beast, Mirana's horse reared in fright. Hatter lunged for the reins⁸, jerked the horse around, and quickly led it and Mirana away from the clearing. flames swallowed up the fairground. 

When Hatter returned to look for his family, he had only found ashes. 

The image faded and the White Queen turned to Alice with a grave expression. "And he has lived ever since with the weight of their loss," she said. 

Manifesting just over Mirana's shoulder, Chessur's bright green eyes flicked⁹ toward Alice. "So you see, dear Alice, like a tree, our present problem has its roots in the past ..." he said. 

"I see," Alice murmured. "I think." 

"Which is why we were hoping you might go back into the past and save the Hatter's family," Mirana said, sweeping¹⁰ her hands together and pulling them to her chest. 

"Go back in time? But how?" Alice asked. She'd never considered such a thing before. If it was possible—oh, if it was—there were so many moments she'd like to relive! She could see her father again, maybe save him, too. Although, perhaps it was a magic that worked only in Underland. 

"The Chronosphere," Chessur said. 

"I'm sorry," Alice said. "The Chrono-what?" "The Chronosphere. It's the heart that powers Time. Legend has it, it lets one travel across the Ocean of Time," Mirana explained. 

"But why me?" Alice asked, turning back to Mirana. 

"None of us can use it because we've already been in the past. And if your past self sees your future self ..." Mirana's voice trailed off. 

"Yes?" Alice said, nudging. "What happens if your past self sees your future self" 

"Well, no one actually knows," Mirana admitted. "But we know it's catastrophic." 

"It sounds dangerous. And complicated," Alice said. 

Chessur popped into the air next to Alice's shoulder, startling her. "It's not impossible, merely unpossible," he said. 

Alice paused for a moment, but there was really nothing to think about. "Hatter is Underland, and Underland is Hatter. If he is in need, I will help him, no matter what." 

Smiling, Mirana took Alice's hands. "We rather hoped you might say that." 

As far as Alice was concerned, there was no time to lose. The quicker she could get started, the quicker they'd get their beloved Hatter back. "And where exactly is this ‘Chronosphere'?" she asked. 

"In the hands of Time, of course," Chessur purred. 

"Well, I suppose all things are," Alice said. "But where is it now?" 

"In the hands of Time," Mirana repeated. "It's his." 

Alice blinked. "I'm sorry. Time is a ‘he'?" 

Her friends nodded. 

"So," Alice said to Mirana, "where does Time spend himself" 

Mirana turned and led Alice and the others into Marmoreal Castle. They walked for some time, winding¹¹ up and down stone stairways and past abandoned tapestries¹², until they came to a part of the castle Alice had never seen before. The room they entered had a black-and-white marble floor, the tiles spiraling to the center, where the only object in the room stood, tall and imposing¹³. 

It was an enormous black grandfather clock whose ticks and tocks echoed loudly in the space. The sound was oddly ominous¹⁴. 

Drawing closer, Alice saw that the clock was bound in dozens of old ropes. Mirana approached it warily¹⁵, as if the clock might swallow her whole. 

"He lives in a void of infinitude. In a castle of eternity¹⁶. Through here." Mirana gestured at the clock as she spoke¹⁷. "One mile past the pendulum¹⁸." 

The White Queen waved her hands in the air. "Opening time!" she said. As her fingers traced intricate patterns in front of her, the ropes around the clock began to twist and unravel¹⁹. Alice gasped²⁰ as they lifted outward little by little, revealing themselves to be thousands of white butterflies. They swirled²¹ around her before fluttering out the far window. Turning to Mirana, Alice raised one eyebrow²² in an unspoken question. 

"Keeps the riffraff out," Mirana said with a shrug²³. She dug into a pocket of her white dress and drew out a brass²⁴ key. Carefully, she fitted it into the front of the clock's glass door. 

"Everyone, get ready," she said. 

And then she turned the key. 

As the door opened, a fierce vacuum sucked at the air in the room, pulling it into the clock. Mallymkun clutched at the March Hare's kerchief to keep from being tugged²⁵ in as well. Even Alice was drawn²⁶ a step closer to the clock and had to kick her legs apart to brace²⁷ herself. 

Just as quickly as the wind had begun, it fell off. Tentatively, Alice approached the ornate wooden frame of the clock and peered in past the pendulum. 

There was no light, just an infinite stretch of darkness. Alice shivered. 

Alice turned to see everyone bunched together, anxious smiles on their faces. Well, she wasn't going to accomplish anything by waiting and worrying. She faced forward again, ready to begin. 

Mirana reached out, her hand stopping Alice. 

"Time is extremely powerful and apparently²⁸ quite full of himself," the White Queen warned. "So mind your manners. He is not someone you want as your enemy." 

Alice bit her lip. No, she did not want to be on Time's bad side. After nodding first at Mirana, then at the others, she ducked into the clock. As she stepped inside, she heard Bayard call out, "Fairfarren, Alice!" But she dared not look back. 

 

她出来时，睡鼠和三月兔脸上满是希望，一下子就蹦了起来；白兔子有些烦躁，在他身后，双胞胎兄弟和贝亚德凑在一起；莫安娜满怀期待地身体前倾，伸出了双臂。爱丽丝感受到伙伴们的目光都落在自己身上。 

“他根本不知道我是谁。”爱丽丝伤心地承认。 

大家的脸色一下子就沉了下来。爱丽丝咬着嘴唇，伤心地迈着沉重的步子离开了房门。疯帽子一直都对她很有信心，哪怕是在爱丽丝都不那么相信自己的时候。上次爱丽丝来到地下世界时，无论别人怎么说，他都坚持认为她就是爱丽丝，是他们一直等待着的那个爱丽丝。可现在他对自己却像对待陌生人一样。 

“他到底是怎么了？”爱丽丝问道。 

“正如我们担心的那样，”莫安娜的声音中带着一丝颤抖，“他得了严重的健忘症。” 

“健忘症？”爱丽丝重复着，和大家一起走进了村子里。 

“事情都发生在厄朗温达石日。”莫安娜说着，在喷泉边停下脚步，手在水面上一挥。只见在一片水雾中显现出一处集市，其中有五彩斑斓的杂货铺和微笑的人群。 

“不知怎么的，他总是为他家人的死感到自责。”莫安娜继续说道。这时爱丽丝在这幅景象中认出了疯帽子的家人。 

水镜里，桑尼克和泰瓦站在老橡树下聊天，疯帽子的表兄弟、表姐妹们追逐打闹着跑过去，他的叔叔和婶婶则在“喝了我”的饮料摊旁。 

喇叭声嘟嘟地响了起来，莫安娜骑着白马过来了，身后跟着步行而来的白骑士和疯帽子。疯帽子看到他的家人，举起一只手刚想和他们打招呼，头上就赫然出现了一片黑影。 

伴随着一声刺耳的尖叫，炸脖龙从空中俯冲下来，咆哮着喷出了火焰。火焰照亮了货摊和旗帜，空气中充斥着噼里啪啦的响声和滚滚的黑烟。 

白骑士冲上去迎战这头野兽。莫安娜的马因受惊猛地抬起前腿，疯帽子赶紧冲过去拉住缰绳，把它和莫安娜从空地上带走。火焰一下吞噬了集市。 

疯帽子后来回去找他的家人时，看到的只有灰烬。 

水雾中的图像渐渐褪去后，白皇后一脸沉重地看着爱丽丝说：“从那之后，他就生活在失去亲人的痛苦中了。” 

妙妙猫从白皇后的肩膀后面冒了出来，对爱丽丝眨了眨他那明亮的绿眼睛说：“所以呀，亲爱的爱丽丝，你要知道，我们现在面临的问题，根源是在过去……” 

“我想，我明白了。”爱丽丝喃喃自语道。 

“这就是为什么我们希望你能回到过去，拯救疯帽子的家人。”莫安娜说着，将双手合十，放在胸前。 

“回到过去？但怎么才能回去呢？”爱丽丝问道。她以前从没想过这种事，如果可能的话——噢，如果可能的话——有好多好多时刻她都想再体验一次！这样她就能见到父亲了，没准还能救他。但也许，这样的魔法只有在地下世界才管用。 

“时空传送仪。”妙妙猫说。 

“抱歉，”爱丽丝说，“时空……什么？”“时空传送仪。它是驱动时间的核心，传说它能让人徜徉在时间之海里。”莫安娜解释道。 

“但为什么是我呢？”爱丽丝转身问莫安娜。 

“我们几个都身处过去，所以肯定不能用时空传送仪。而且，如果过去的你遇到了未来的你……”莫安娜说着，声音越来越小。 

“然后呢？”爱丽丝穷追不舍地问道，“过去的你遇到未来的你会怎样呢？” 

“好吧，其实没人知道，”莫安娜承认说，“但我们知道肯定会是场大灾难。” 

“听上去很危险，也很复杂。”爱丽丝说。 

妙妙猫一下子出现在爱丽丝肩旁，吓了爱丽丝一跳，他说：“这倒不是‘完全不可能’，只是‘非常不可能’。” 

爱丽丝停了一会儿，但其实也没有什么好顾虑的。“疯帽子就是地下世界，地下世界就是疯帽子。只要他需要帮助，无论是什么忙，我都会帮的。” 

莫安娜微笑着拉起爱丽丝的手说：“我们真高兴你能这么说。” 

爱丽丝觉得，一切已经刻不容缓。她越早开始，他们就能越快找回亲爱的疯帽子。“时光传送仪到底在哪儿？”爱丽丝问道。 

“当然是在‘时间’手里。”妙妙猫呜呜地说道。 

“好吧，我觉得所有东西都掌握在时间手里。”爱丽丝说道，“我是说它现在在哪儿？” 

“在‘时间’手里呀，”莫安娜重复了一遍，“这个东西是他的。” 

爱丽丝眨了眨眼说：“抱歉，‘时间’是个人？” 

朋友们点了点头。 

“那么，”爱丽丝问莫安娜，“‘时间’到底在哪里呢？” 

莫安娜转过身，带着爱丽丝和其他人走进大理石宫。他们走了一会儿，在石梯上爬上爬下，再穿过废弃的挂毯，最后来到城堡的一个地方，一个爱丽丝从未见过的房间。这间屋子里铺着黑白相间的大理石地板，瓷砖呈螺旋状从四周延伸到屋子中央，那里摆放着这间屋子里唯一的物件，又高大又壮观。 

这是一座巨大的黑色老爷钟，钟表的嘀嗒声响亮地回荡在屋子里，听上去就很诡异。 

爱丽丝走近了一点，看到这座钟上缠着一些旧绳子。莫安娜小心翼翼地靠近，就好像这座钟可能会把她一口吞下去似的。 

“他住在无限中，在永恒城堡里，就从这儿过去，”莫安娜边说边指着这座钟，“从钟摆过去再走上一英里。” 

白皇后挥了挥手说：“打开时间！”她的手指在面前画出许多复杂的图案，大钟上的绳子开始扭动着解开了。爱丽丝喘着粗气，看着那些绳子一点一点地从大钟上升起来，变成了上千只白色的蝴蝶。这些蝴蝶在她身边盘旋了几圈后便从远处的窗户飞了出去。爱丽丝转向莫安娜，扬起一边的眉毛，她的问题却没说出口。 

“这样就不能随意进入了。”莫安娜耸耸肩说。说完，她从白裙子的口袋里掏出了一把铜钥匙，小心翼翼地插进钟表前面的玻璃门里。 

“大家准备好！”莫安娜说道。 

说完，她转动了钥匙。 

门一打开，强大的吸力把屋子里的东西往钟里拉。睡鼠抓着三月兔的手帕，不让自己被吸进去，连爱丽丝也被吸得向钟迈了一步，她努力地分开双腿，好支撑自己站稳。 

这阵风来得突然，停得也快。爱丽丝试探性地接近这座华丽的大钟，透过钟摆往里面看去。 

那里一点光都没有，只有无尽的黑暗。爱丽丝打了个冷战。 

爱丽丝回过头，发现大家都挤在一起，脸上挂着担忧的笑容。她明白，畏畏缩缩地等待是完成不了任何事的。她再一次转向前方，准备开始了。 

莫安娜伸出手，拦住爱丽丝。 

“‘时间’很强大，也很自以为是，”白皇后提醒她说，“所以要注意你的举止，成为他的敌人可没什么好处。” 

爱丽丝咬了咬唇，不，她不想成为‘时间’的敌人。她先朝莫安娜点了点头，又朝其他人也点了点头，然后转身钻进大钟里。她一走进去，就听到贝亚德大喊：“爱丽丝，一路平安！”但她却不敢回头看。 

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