It's always a bad idea to torture a Hightopp.

Now I would hate to imply that it could ever be a good idea to torture anyone, as torture is a fundamentally horrible thing. Nor would I try to say that torturing a Hightopp is somehow a morally worse thing to do than torturing other people, as it is equally a horrible thing to do to anyone in any case. But there are consequences to pushing a Hightopp past the breaking point. What the Red Queen did – the elimination of my clan, her tyrannical reign over Underland, and my eventual imprisonment in Salazem Grum – things like that can do things to a Hightopp.

People always assume what happened to me is what caused my qualities – the changing eyes, the slips into Outlandish, and the madness. Especially the madness. Very few remember how I was before…everything happened.

The eyes. My brilliant green eyes are a family trait, as is their changes in color (electric blue is slightly rarer – was rarer - but still as prone to change). People don't remember this – they only visited the Hightopps on festival days when the mood was light and laughter reigned. Life, however, isn't always a festival, and Hightopp eyes have always brightened and dimmed and shifted in response to happiness, sadness, and anger.

The brogue. Like the eyes, the Outlandish accent is a family trait. Those that only visited during the cheerful times probably don't realize the frequency, diversity, or range of emotion that brings that piece of clan history to light. Some speak it often, some hardly at all. Spoke. Serious emotions bring it out the most – serious anger, serious focus, even serious passion. Alice.

The madness. The clan isn't 'prone' to madness, you see. Wasn't. The Hightopps have always been mad. From the grayest elder to the youngest babe – all mad as Hatters (and many of them are). Were. Even those that marry into the clan, though it might be said that the clan favored this trait and looked for it in potential husbands and wives. Alice. It originated from the mercury, as many think, but it's not my personal work that made me mad – it's the Hatters that came generations before, passing the madness down along with the eyes and the brogue.

The Hightopps embraced the madness. True - it might lead to rambling and raving speech, confused and cluttered thoughts, or even wanton and wild behaviors, but those were things the Hightopps understood and loved. There was never a reason to worry about a wild, ranting Hightopp, even with gold in their eyes – more likely than not it was a father cursing lads away from his daughters or a mother whose child had stepped over the line one too many times.

Nae – none of these traits are the result of what the bloody big head did to me. Her red gift to me was far more subtle. So subtle that I didn't realize it until the day Mally snapped me out of a fit of madness to find my hands around the Hare's throat. Later they told me my eyes had gone beyond the pale yellow of anger to a burnt orange of murderous rage. It terrified me. Hightopp eyes are never ever ever supposed to go red; the clan was far too cheerful and far too careful to slip into that dangerous state of mind. That's what the bloody Red Queen did to me – she shattered my control, and now every time I snap out of a fit of madness, I fear I've hurt someone. Even Alice. Especially Alice.

Never push a Hightopp past the breaking point. My clan made me mad; the Red Queen made me dangerous.

A/N – Something that popped into my mind while watching Alice again recently. Also may post a sequel story if I ever type it up. I don't own Tarrant.