Author's Note: I managed to find this really helpful blog post written about Ace's back story. But if you're not the type to like spoilers I don't suggest you check it out, or continue reading this fanfic for that matter o_o (It pains me to have to say that though)

But if you don't mind, please by all means proceed to scroll down :D

Many thanks to Olivia Morin for writing the post 'Alice in the Country of Hearts: Why is Ace (the Knight of Hearts) always lost?' on her blog Intense Mode. The analysis belongs not to me but to Ms Morin.

I feel like you guys are so much more insightful than me when it comes to your beloved fandoms. Your character analyses and reviews on other HnKnA Fanfiction stories are AMAZING. I seriously learn so much.

Chapter 3:

Her eyelids felt like lead and she felt so drained.

For some reason however, whenever Clara tried to close her eyes, sleep would continue to elude her. Eventually she had settled on just allowing her eyes to stay open until she drifted off. She wished she had a book with her to read as that had always done the trick back in her world.

Clara heard Ace shift behind her and his voice faintly mumble "…got pushed out… I wonder why..."

Pushed out? Oh. He means…

Every time that a "move" happened in their world it would lead to people getting pushed out of the place they were staying. Boris was one example. He had gotten expelled from the amusement park and was now living in the forest. She had had the displeasure of discovering earlier that he now proceeded to occupy his time with chasing Pierce the mouse.

Clara frowned thinking about Ace as the knight of hearts. Heart castle was still a part of the Country of Clover. And it was where he should live if he wasn't so busy getting lost all the time.

So what did he mean when he-?

It then dawned on her that if he was talking about getting "pushed out" he must have meant out of Clock Tower.

Clara and Ace both let out a yawn at the same time as they waited for the doors to open. Ace was wearing a formal suit which included a crisp white dress shirt, a red tie, dress pants and a couple of fancy looking vests underneath a long red coat. It was a fairly drastic change from his usual black and red uniform.

Clara didn't know anyone else who would have been able to pull the outfit off. They would have looked way over the top. Come on. Who wears two vests at the same time? But for some reason Ace managed to make it look good. Real good.

"Another assembly. Whoopee." Ace remarked dryly. "I'm not good at listening or sitting still."

Clara agreed, "Me neither. I must admit it can get tedious."

She looked at him for a moment, wondering curiously.

"If you hate these things so much, why don't you just skip?"

Ace looked at her in surprise, but then no sooner than she could blink than the expression was gone from his face and his usual smile was plastered back on.

"I can't."

Clara continued to stare at him, trying to read into his body language. There it was again. The weird vibe she got from him. She couldn't wrap her head around why he felt so detached at times.

...

The people in their world may have been crazy and homicidal, but they also had weird rules they were required to follow. The assembly that they were currently attending was one of those mandates. It was held for the important leaders of each domain to meet to discuss important decisions. Yet, Clara couldn't understand why they felt the need to drag everyone else along to sit in on every meeting.

She sighed. She knew she was an outsider, so the rules didn't matter to her as much as it did to those who had "roles".

The roleholders in Wonderland had been given duties and an identity by some higher power. But the unfortunate thing was that none of them had any say in the matter. They just had to accept what had been determined for them.

Ace had a role too, but he hated it. Clara remembered during their time in the country of Hearts how he often avoided the castle even though he was supposed to work there as it's knight. Instead he had worked under Julius. Julius led the clock tower, but it had vanished during the move… now it didn't exist in the country of Clover and she wasn't sure how Ace was taking that.

Clara sighed for the second time that day and tried to stretch out some of her back muscles. The assembly had ran longer than usual this time. She wondered what she would do before the next session as she had yet to make any plans.

Her thoughts were answered by the feel of someone grabbing her wrist.

That very person revealed themselves to be the Queen of hearts. Her face appeared in front of Clara's, getting very much in her personal space.

"Ho ho! We have caught you at last, Clara" She smiled triumphantly.

Clara couldn't help but smile in return. "Your majesty."

"Come! You will shop with us" the Queen announced as she forcefully dragged Clara towards the exit.

...

Ace watched Clara's exchange with Vivaldi out of the corner of his eye. He was briefly distracted by the way Clara's outfit clung to her curves a bit too nicely. He wondered where she got that dress. He was half listening to Peter White lecture him for… he forgot what for. But he managed to catch the end of his spiel "…are you listening, Ace?! You are such a disgrace!"

"Hey at least look at my face!" he yelled.

Ace waited for Peter to shut up so he could follow Clara and see what she was up to.

Meanwhile Clara had thrown her head back in laughter at Vivaldi's display of sweetness. The Queen's glee was contagious and had caused Clara to pick up her pace so that she was no longer being pulled along. She linked her arm with Vivaldi and excitedly inquired "Where to first?"

The Queen beamed as they passed from shop to shop. Clara loved Vivaldi, she was like an elder sister to her. She honestly thought that she was extremely beautiful in all her regal, arrogant and wild-tempered way. She loved it the most when she got to witness Vivaldi in all her intimidating glory. It made her wonder how it was possible to do all that with such effortless grace. But Clara also really enjoyed the cute side of the Queen.

Vivaldi steered the both of them inside a general store, "Clara! We insist on this shop next!"

Clara gaped in delight as she looked around. Her eyes drank in all the merchandise. She had a feeling she would have been a hoarder had she owned her own house. They made everything so cutely in the country of Clover.

She was looking at a china set and admiring its craftsmanship when the Queen's voice called out to her.

"Clara! Clara!"

Clara turned and was met with an incredibly fluffy stuffed… cat?

She blinked once.

And then burst into laughter.

"What in the world! What is that?" She giggled, finding the animal adorable.

Vivaldi grinned, "Ho Ho! It is unclear! But he is cute, yes?"

"Very." Clara nodded and reached out to touch its soft head "Where'd you find that?"

"Over there!" She gestured in a follow me motion.

They headed over to the corner where all the toys were situated. Clara smiled as she thought about how grateful she was for some quality time with another female. As much as she loved spending time with Ace, she knew she needed a break. There were just some things that only other women could understand.

She caught Vivaldi staring at her intently

"Hmm?" Clara questioned

The Queen gave her a knowing look as if she had been able to read her mind "Ho Ho. We know that you have been attached to our knight as of late. You will attend us now until we are satisfied."

Clara felt her cheeks heat up but decided to go for it, "Well, I was meaning to talk to you about him."

Vivaldi whipped her head around to pin her with a look, "If the knight has been causing you grief, we can always-"

Clara hurried to correct her, "Oh no no! I mean yes, but I didn't mean that."

She paused trying to phrase her next words carefully, "It's just that… well I've been worried about him. You see, ever since he has come to the land of Clover he's been a little down… I think he misses Clock Tower. And he misses Julius."

She rambled on, unaware of the indulgent smile on the Queen's face. Vivaldi thought Ace was one lucky wretch. But she was pleased he wasn't there to see Clara get as flustered as she was. It made for one very irresistible girl.

"Not that I don't miss Julius as well. Of course I do. But Ace is taking it a lot harder than I am…"

"Dearest Clara. You may not yet be aware that originally the Knight was an outsider like yourself."

Clara froze at Vivaldi's revelation. She turned to give her her full attention, her mind racing at 90 miles a minute as her eyes searched her face.

"Please your majesty." She prompted her gently to elaborate

The atmosphere took on a more sombre note as the Queen exhaled, "Let us tell you a story…"

xXx

There once was a Knight of Hearts who considered life in the world of wonderland completely meaningless and everyone's existence entirely replaceable. He would always threaten them in order to rebel against the rules imposed upon him by that world. He utterly despised the role he was given. However, before he was known as the Knight of Hearts and Executioner, he was just a mere boy. An outsider who was all alone and had just lost someone important to him. Things began to look up when one day the clockmaker Julius appeared in the boy's life. He took him to wonderland where they grew to become very close and live a happy life. Anyone who saw them would think they were father and son.

After a while, the boy ceased to be an outsider, for he had fully embraced wonderland and had become one of its inhabitants. He grew up into a young man under the tender care of his father-figure. And he even began to enjoy the role bestowed upon him as the Knight of Hearts.

However, their happiness was short-lived.

The clockmaker was one day killed.

On that very day the boy saw his life shatter.

The executioner arrived to collect the Clockmaker's own clock, but the young man went ballistic and killed him. The Joker then appeared but recognising his strength offered the boy the job of the executioner. He agreed to take it on one condition. That being that the executioner and clockmaker work together to retrieve and fix broken clocks. He was only willing to become the executioner if his now deceased father-figure was revived as the clockmaker. In that way, they could always work together.

The Joker agreed to his terms, but only if he passed a test.

The test was to kill the Clockmaker.

His beloved father figure was already dead at his feet. So if he really wanted to become the executioner he would have to travel to an alternate Wonderland to kill a different Julius.

Which… he did.

He travelled to a different universe and cut down the clockmaker there, right in front of the child version of himself in that world. This surprised even the Joker who saw that he did this without even a hint of hesitation.

To the boy who staggered back while holding his stomach in fear, he had said "You're weak. Powerless. You were unable to protect the sole person that meant the world to you."

"Hey… You know that Julius died because of you? It's your fault." With his tormenting words aimed at not only his past self but his very soul, he sneered

"…. from now on, you should always suffer."

Because of his decision to salvage what he could of losing the only thing that was precious to him, he doomed the clockmaker to die in every world that he would ever exist in. The clockmaker which he would later know and work for would not be the same person who had first brought him to wonderland.

xXx

Clara's heart broke as she listened to Vivaldi share Ace's story. She felt a little guilty knowing that she hadn't waited to hear it from Ace himself, but she knew that she couldn't last a moment longer without knowing the cause behind why he wasn't acting like his usual self. She didn't realise a tear had slipped out until Vivaldi handed her a handkerchief. She smiled tearily in thanks. That was not what she expected when she asked the queen for advice about Ace.

Vivaldi comforted her with a squeezing hug "Do not be vexed dear Clara, we are certain that the knight will reveal all he knows to you soon enough"

AN: Phew. That was a fun process. Hope y'all like :) And by the way is anyone going to see the new Bohemian Rhapsody movie? I am keen as a bean. Keen. As. A. Bean.