“Welcome aboard, I am Captain Catherine.” In front of Alice stood a tall olive-skinned woman holding out her hand as her beautiful red wine hair fluttered in the sea breeze. As the sun started rising behind her, accentuated by the golden sunlight,her skin and hair glowed radiantly. The captain of this cruise looked absolutely stunning.

Impressed with the glamor of the captain, Alice stood there staring at her not realizing how the captain is still patiently holding her hand out in the mid-air. As soon as Alice remembered Captain’s hand, she swiftly extended her arm out to grab it. Using the captain's hand as the leverage, Alice stepped up onto the deck and stood next to the captain.

“Your job for the week is cleaning this deck. Starting with this area, we will gradually assign other tasks.” Speaking briefly in her blunt tone, Catherine looked at Alice while pointing at the deck. Suddenly Alice was hit hard with reality, reminding her of the situation she was in. She was stuck on this cruise and there was no escape. Alice slowly nodded her head to the Captain’s order.

“If there is something you do not know, ask. I usually forgive the first mistake, but there won’t be a second chance.” Alice looked up at the sound of Captain's determined tone and nodded vigorously. Captain Catherine had a cold, icy demeanor when she spoke and wasn't warm as one would expect from her looks. Alice imagined the captain would be more amiable judging by her appearance. On the other hand, she was the captain of this cruise ship after all. Resonating with an unapproachable vibe was inevitable, Alice thought.

Like it or not, the cruise was Alice's home now. It was either finding the real culprit or earning the amount of funds that was stolen. Earning back the stolen amount was not an option since it will cost Alice’s lifetime. She shuddered at the thought of how she might end up stuck on this cruise forever doing chores till she dies if she failed to bring the true culprit to the queen.

Alice took a deep breath and vowed to herself that she shall find this suspect and return herself to the world where she originally belonged.

The cruise owned by the Queen was a luxurious cruise ship bigger than anyone could have imagined. Passengers boarding on this ship also seemed to be made up of only the wealthy, befitting the splendor of the ship.

In the center of this luxurious cruise ship, there was this huge staircase designed in the Renaissance style looking fancy. Alice was amazed at how well it was preserved despite its historical appearance. To keep such a huge staircase and the stretching hallways looking so clean and kept in pristine condition must take a lot of care and effort.

There are five hallways in total stretching out from the staircase, and one of them would lead on to the luxurious ballroom 'Elixir'. Every last Wednesday of each month, a grand ball was held where all the celebrities in the cruise gathered and spent their night lavishly.

Every single ball was grand with extravagance and it was a lot of work for Alice and the other crew mates. Alice started to not like Wednesdays.

-

Time passed quickly for Alice and it became a month since Alice boarded this ship. Thanks to her insatiable inquisitive mind, her adaptation to the ship was fast. She was always curious, and was a fast learner. Within a month, she acquired information about half the passengers on the cruise and learned her way around the cruise ship.

Her only motivation, finding the suspect, drove her hard. Alice was always busy, and even the crews of the ship started noticing her and praised for her diligence. On any occasion she had a chance, Alice kept a close eye on everyone on the cruise, especially the new passengers that flowed in with each embark.

Alice, after getting used to living her life on the water, became a celebrity among her crewmates on the cruise and a good servant to the lavish passengers. She could hardly afford time to properly investigate.

Given it was a full time served cruise, Alice had to periodically change her shift time and when unlucky, worked for day and night straight. She was always busy and exhausted. It was absolutely impossible for her to carry out any investigation.

It was one night where she had to work at dawn. She was standing in the hallway. The hallway was feeling extra quiet at that dawn. Normally there would be two people working together to clean this hallway, but strangely this time Alice was stuck with the shift all alone. She had to work double by herself.

She looked down the long empty hallway. It looked extra long tonight. Suddenly tiredness overwhelmed her. With a slumped shoulder, Alice opened the closet where cleaning tools were stored in.

As soon as the door was open, sharp looking teeth appeared right in front of her eyes floating in the mid-air. Those were some straight, nice looking sharp teeth, Alice thought to herself. Sharp white teeth glow brighter in the dark shadows. It soon gave a big smile.

Startled, Alice quickly closed the closet. She took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. When she was finally calmer, she slowly turned on the door knob, being unable to resist her curiosity.

This time there were two eyes staring at Alice emitting mysterious rainbow colors. It blinked a couple of times. Then the sharp teeth slowly began to reappear, clattering its pointy teeth. This thing slowly started to speak.

"Good evening- no, should I rather say good morning-?”.

The eyes turned moon crescent and surprisingly its voice was sweet and velvety. It sounded like a sweet little girl. .

“I finally got to meet you, Alice. It is my honor, hehe."

Unexpectedly hearing a polite tone from this strange creature, not detecting any hostility, Alice slowly relaxed her tensed shoulder.

“How do you know my name…? And who are you…?”

Alice’s tired eyes began to twinkle with curiosity. She was curious how this thing knew her name.

“Everyone in Wonderland knows you, Alice. You are a celebrity.”

“I am…?!”

Alice bashfully scratched her cheek. The thing slowly nodded while observing Alice's reaction.

“And as for me, I am just a person. No, maybe a cat? Hm- Let’s just say that I am something that can be either a cat or a person, and I have been watching you from the very first day you have stepped into this messed up world.”

As soon as it finished its sentence, the grinning eyes and mouth slowly came out of the cleaning box, and the body began to form. To push itself out from the cramped box, it grabbed each side of the box and started to come out slowly with a bizarre motion.

“It has been a while since I have completely formed myself , hehe”

The creature acted as if she was embarrassed since Alice’s gaze was heavy on her, observing. Alice stepped back and looked at her with a dumbfounded face. It was in a human form.

Alice finally could take a good look at this creature. It had two fluffy dark ears on top of its head, and a fluffy dark tail gently waving behind her back. It was neither a human nor a cat. What is this thing?

While Alice was wondering, that thing finally had all her features. When it stood in front of Alice, it came below Alice's chin. The creature was wearing a suit; a crimson shirt with a silky gray vest on top, a cape draped on her upper torso. The creature spoke in such a good manner too. How peculiar.

“Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Cheshire.” Cheshire smiled as she bowed to Alice while gently crossing one of her legs behind her other leg. Alice gently bent her knees too as a reflex without realizing it.

“So I’ve heard you would have to either find the real culprit or pay back the stolen fund of Queen of hearts-” Cheshire grinned big and stared at Alice. Alice flinched as Cheshire looked as if she was gazing into her soul.

“Working on a cruise and finding the real culprit alone must be unimaginably difficult I presume. What do you say about joining hands with me? I can help you.”

One hand on her chest, Cheshire bowed and lifted her hand and presented her palm wearing black leather gloves.

Alice, who had been listening calmly, looked at Cheshire.

“Then Cheshire, what do you get?”

Alice knew nothing is free in this world. Alice soon crossed her arms and waited for Cheshire to answer. Cheshire grinned at the question and quickly wiped her smirk away. It was so quick that Alice could not notice.

"Pleasure."

She cleared her throat and opened her mouth once more displaying her straight sharp teeth. “All I seek is pure pleasure, Alice.” Cheshire articulated each word so Alice would comprehend.

‘Watching people suffer gives me joy.’ Cheshire thought to herself.

“The pleasure of watching you solving problems. That's all I am asking for.” As soon as Alice heard Cheshire’s answer, she put her hand on Cheshire’s palm. Their hands flipped together and turned into a handshake.