Malice in Wonderland Bundle 3

by Lotus Rose

  “What’s that mini-realm thingy?” Sleepy B says.

  The witch says, “It’s a place that’s not really real, but the things one does there can have effects on the realm we live in. There await two of the special tasks in the mini-realm. You are a select group, for only special ones are even capable of accomplishing them.”

  “What are the tasks?” Humpty says.

  “There are three noble tasks, according to prophesy, that are thus: the rebukement of kisses, the mending of broken wings, and a third involving the fetching of a special item.”

  Malice narrows her eyes. “Why won’t you tell us the third?”

  “The time is not right. First, you must visit the jabberwocky realm to address the first two tasks.”

  “I don’t understand,” Malice says. “Why does this realm exist again? And who set up these tasks?”

  The witch answers, “The jabberwocky mini-realm was formed from the dreams of jabberwocks as they slept. How or why that could occur, I don’t fully understand myself. But the sole reason the realm exists, is to provide the chance for the special ones to fix what has become broken for the jabberwock monsters.”

  “You mean, like their wings?” Hatter says.

  “Indeed,” the witch says. “Ever since the battle between champions, the jabberwocks have been unable to fly, and ever since the kiss spell was cast, they have been unable to violently fight little girls—instead, they must resort to first kiss.”

  “A pity,” says the Cat.

  The Snark says, “Remember when I told you how I wish to bestow the jabberwocks with gifts so they’ll follow me?”

  The team members nod and agree.

  The Snark continues, “This is how I shall do it. My servants have been spreading the word of all that I shall bring them! When I restore their flight, they shall do loop-the-loops of joy in the air for me. When I free them from the kissing curse, they shall peddle me with the heads of little girls in adoration. All of these things shall cause them to admire and be grateful to me—those two things alone shall cause them to strongly desire to follow me. But then, once we have returned from our little jabberwocky realm miniquest, do you know what else I shall do?”

  Obligingly, the groups says things such as “No, what?” or they shake their heads.

  He continues, “Then I shall personally, and quite publicly execute the Queen of Hearts, the greatest enemy of all monsterkind. After that, the jabberwocks shall recognize my strength. With complete loyalty, they shall then follow me as I conquer Wonderland, and revive Woeland.”

  Malice says, “And what do you intend to do with me as Queen of Wonderland? And what of my friends here?”

  The Snark says, “Well, since Wonderland won’t exist anymore, you certainly shan’t be allowed to be its Queen anymore. But I hold no grudge against you. As for everyone else, so long as you respect my authority, and if you all help me accomplish the jabberwocky realm’s tasks, I shall certainly remember that and take it into consideration.”

  Humpty scoffs. “Help you? Why would we do that?”

  The Snark makes the Emperor’s face grin. “The jabberwocky realm’s tasks are noble causes—despite what you think of me. To restore flight to the jabberwocks? To take away the humiliation of forcing them to kiss their opponents? I believe that even humans can agree with granting the jabberwocks those dignities. It’s only proper to allow jabberwocks to be the true majestic monsters they were meant to be. Don’t you agree, Jabby?”

  Jabby says, “Yes, those are indeed noble causes that would free my fellow monsters from their shackles, but you then wish to use the jabberwocks’ wings to fly to Wonderland and conquer it—I have no doubt you wish to slay many little girls as well, even though you are in a truce.”

  “Of course!” the Snark says. “That is the way of nature! The strong defeat the weak! And when the jabberwocks attack Wonderland, they shall only be delivering justice! The Queen of Hearts had her forces attack and try to eradicate monsterkind! The snarks were destroyed! I’m the last one! Only the shifters and jabberwocks have survived in any numbers, and it is time for them to reclaim what is rightfully theirs! Wonderland shouldn’t even exist in the first place—Woeland was first and it has the right to be revived again, with me as its emperor! Don’t you see? I’m not the villain of this story, I’m the hero!”

  Malice says, “I’m not gonna stand idly by as you conquer Wonderland, no matter if you call yourself a hero or not.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” the Snark says, “but do what you must.”

  Malice says, “Don’t get me wrong. I would love to aid the jabberwocks, just because it’s the right thing to do, but why should we go into the jabberwocky realm if you’re only going to capture or kill us afterward?”

  “Very well then, I offer you this proposal, on my word—once you have in good faith helped accomplish the two tasks, upon our return, I shall thank you and set you free...also, in good faith. I will give you one day in which I shan’t pursue you, and then, well, our agreement shall be over. What do you say?”

  Hatter scoffs. “We’re supposed to believe the word of you, a creature who sneaks up on people beneath hats?”

  “I give my word as a snark, and that is worth gold.”

  “You’re the only snark,” Sleepy B says.

  “So it’s worth more than gold.”

  Sleepy B says, “Wow, you’re really quite desperate for us to join you.”

  “The fact is, it’s very important that you join me in my mission. Any other individuals simply won’t do. I shall allow the witch to explain.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE WITCH BOWS HER head—since none of her body can be seen, it looks like a small brown robe bowing its hood. And now that creaky old voice comes out: “The three noble tasks can only possibly completed by special ones. The two tasks of the mini-realm each require someone who has ‘both human and jabberwock been’.”

  The Snark says, “I myself am a special one, according to the witch, and we believe you are too, Jabby, for you used to have the body of a human while retaining the head of a jabberwock. That is why you are so essential to this mission.”

  Hatter says, “Oi! So are we not special, then?”

  The witch says, “You are important as well, because of your relationships to the special ones. When anyone enters it, the realm shapes itself to the specific individuals and their relationships. I believe it’d be best if you all go there.”

  “Even me?” says the Cat.

  “Except you,” says the witch.

  “Phooey, I’m going anyway.”

  “The time is nigh,” the witch says. “Soon I’ll be able to open a portal.”

  The Snark says, “It seems we are on a strict schedule. The witch can only open a portal at a certain time. It has something to do with aligning energies or some such fiddle faddle. Let’s make this quick. Jabby, I’d like to make you an offer you’ll truly value.” He gestures at Nellie, who nods and brings out a sword in a scabbard from behind the throne. She holds the sword in her hands, as the Snark says, “Jabby this is your vorpal blade. When I heard you were coming, I used my powers as Emperor to have it brought to me. I know you feel it would be dishonourable to reclaim your name and station, but if you help in good faith, when we return, you shall be considered redeemed, with your honour restored. Then I shall give your sword back and you may reclaim your name and station.”

  Jabby says, “But I am no longer banished. I could reclaim all those things myself.”

  “Yet you choose not to, because of your sense of honour. Quit wasting time. Do you accept my offer or not?”

  Jabby looks around at his teammates, who all say they’ll support him whatever choice he makes and shall stay by his side.

  Jabby says, “When we return, you shall give me my sword, you’ll grant us all our one day in which we shan’t be pursued, then our agreement shall end. And we shall go our separate ways, until we may meet again as enemies?”

  “Yes, if you wish t
o return as enemies.”

  Jabby looks around to meet the eyes of his teammates. “Very well, then I shall go, and I look forward to giving my monsters back their flight!”

  The Snark says, “I invite you all to come as well. But you all must promise to act honourably and in good faith. You shall be bound by your word.”

  All the members of the team agree with his offer—even the Cat does so, adding that he won’t interfere.

  “Excellent,” the Snark says. “I’ll have Nellie unlock you as the witch conjures up the portal. By the way, Jabby, you shall have to leave your sword here, for the magic of the realm won’t allow weapons to be brought in. I’ll leave my sword as well.”

  Nellie sets to unlocking the team members, as the witch lowers her head and mumbles words that can’t be made out.

  After a few moments, the witch turns to her right, lifts her arms in the air (her hands still aren’t visible). She lowers her hands with a throwing motion, and now the portal appears in front of her.

  It floats, slightly above the ground—an oval of crackling flame. The area within its boundaries appears as glowing white light, not revealing what lies on the other side.

  “I’ll go first,” the witch says. “Nellie shall stay here to make sure the portal doesn’t collapse, thus trapping us in the other realm for all eternity. Well, here goes.” She steps into the portal.

  After only slight hesitation, the others follow.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE TEAM FIND THEMSELVES standing in a grassy field beneath an orange twilight sky, with a gentle cool breeze blowing upon them.

  They are standing on a dirt path that is forking off in two directions, forming a Y shaped intersection.

  Wooden signs are pounded into the ground, marking each fork. The sign on the left reads: Rebuking Kisses. On the right: Mending Wings.

  The portal has vanished. The witch steps out and turns to face the ragtag group. She speaks, and the whole time, none of her skin shows: “Welcome to the special purpose jabberwocky mini-realm. It is a magical realm, and a symbolic one—a place where dreams and unconscious wishes have collected and been given form. It is here that there are certain pending problems to be met by you, a special group, specially selected for each challenge, based on criteria known to me that I’m not going to go into. Each challenge is a kind of symbolic representation, with archetypes and concepts given physical form. I’m sure that description makes little sense, but you shall see for yourselves, soon enough. The important thing to remember is that what happens in this realm shall affect the world you’re from. Let’s get started. Jabby, Sleepy B, and Humpty, I have selected you to go to the Rebuking Kisses challenge. You three, please await my return.”

  “Yes,” the Cat says cheekily, and as the three chosen follow the witch, he glides along beside.

  The area around them seems to shimmer away as they walk, and soon they are in a different area entirely.

  Before them, they take in what they see—a column of crooked black stone rising up about 100 feet, like a tree without branches—it’s a wonder it doesn’t tip over. A staircase is carved into the side, winding upward in a spiral. At the base of the column, the ground is covered in rocky gray gravel extending in all directions with no plant life seen.

  At the base of the column, Sleepy B sees a group of jabberwocks who all have that misty, translucent quality associated with representations of ghosts.

  The group is comprised of a handsome young adult male jabberwock who appears to be tied to a chair by rope. He is surrounded by a group of five ghostly young adult female jabberwocks, all lazily lying on the ground in a circle around him, peering out with blank expressions.

  As she stares at them, the female jabberwocks become decidedly less lazy, as one says, “Intruders!” and rises up on all fours, followed shortly by the other females doing so as well.

  This immediately strikes Sleepy B as odd, as jabberwocks are bipedal.

  The voice of the witch blares into her—“You see before you...” causing Sleepy B to flinch. The witch continues... “The Column of Relationship-related Resentment!”

  “Are those ghosts?” Humpty says, whilst not stuttering at all as he normally would—a fact Sleepy B immediately picks up on.

  The witch says, “They are actually memories—so perhaps it’s more accurate to think of them as phantoms.”

  “What do you mean they’re memories?” Humpty says.

  “We’ll address that momentarily,” the witch says.

  The attention of the conversation is taken away as the phantom female jabberwocks begin softly hissing, whilst circling (on all fours) the tied up male.

  Jabberwocks don’t generally hiss, and Sleepy B is about to comment on that, but she’s beaten to the punch by the Cat saying, “Why are they making that atrocious sound?”

  “Yes, they’re not snakes,” Jabby adds.

  “Since they’re memories, they’re operating on a lower level,” the witch says. “But I need to tell you something, Sleepy B, about your past.”

  “Yes, what is it?” Sleepy B says, staring at the hood of the robe—she’d like to make eye contact, but can’t see her face.

  “You were a princess, before you went to Wonderland.”

  “What? I always thought I was just a normal person. I mean, I can’t really remember, and no one ever told me that, so I always assumed I was just some nobody. Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive. I can’t go into how I know. But I thought you should know.”

  “Does that mean I could become a queen or something?”

  “That’s all I can tell you. You can look into everything later.”

  “I don’t even know what area I lived in. Do you know?”

  “That’s all I can tell you. For now, I want to tell you about the challenge facing you. Before you, you see the column of resentment. It’s symbolic, of course, and the jabberwocks at its base are symbolic as well—that tied up one represents the essence of a jabberwock who was in a relationship with those ghostly females. They are the memories of his exes.”

  Sleepy B says, “I thought you said they were phantoms, not ghosts.”

  “Whatever,” the witch says. “They’re like the phantoms of memories, really.”

  Sleepy B just wobbles her head in confusion.

  Jabby says, “What’s at the top of the column?”

  “Don’t ask me, because I won’t tell you,” the Cat says.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Jabby says.

  The witch says, “Atop the column, it is flat, and there awaits a being who is the key to releasing the curse of the kissing game. You need to figure out a way to get to the top.”

  “It’s a pity I can’t fly...” Jabby prods.

  The witch says, “Yes, well, the other members of your team haven’t yet faced the challenge that could return flight to the jabberwocks.”

  Sleepy B says, “Are those female phantoms dangerous?”

  “Indeed they are. And you should know that death in this realm shall be just as real as usual. We are safe for now, though, for the phantom females won’t travel farther than a certain distance from the column. There is even a chalk circle drawn on the ground indicating the boundary. Come, let’s have a look.”

  The team approaches, and the jabberwock girls stop circling to glower and hiss.

  “Come no closer...” says one of them, in a hissy voice.

  “Stay away from our monster...” hisses another.

  The witch steps up to the boundary—a perfect circle of chalk on the ground. The circle is about forty feet in diameter, with the column at its center. “That’s the magical boundary, but they may be able to reach a bit farther, so be careful. If they merely touch you, it shall damage you and drain your life force—if it goes on longer than say, a few seconds, you’ll die.”

  Sleepy B glances at the group of female jabberwocks who have begun circling the male again.

  “Our monster, you can’t have him,” one hisses.

 
; “Yeah, get your own,” hisses another.

  The bound male, meanwhile, sits still with a blank expression on his face, staring into space.

  Sleepy B says, “Why can’t they go past the circle, and why are they circling that male jabberwock?”

  The witch says, “The female jabberwocks are not able to stray too far from their resentments, just like in their past lives.”

  “Are they dead?” Humpty says. “I thought you said they weren’t ghosts.”

  “Yes, they’re memories, and the females they represent could very well still be alive, but it’s difficult to explain these sorts of concepts sometimes. Don’t nitpick.”

  Sleepy B says, “But who made that circle? Who made the column?”

  “They were formed from the thoughts and dreams and subconscious archetypal thoughts of jabberwocks. You have to keep in mind that everything is symbolic and magical. No one made the circle. It just is. If you think too much about the why, it’ll just make your head hurt. I’ll explain the things you fundamentally need to know for the sake of the challenge.”

  “Okey dokey, witchy,” Sleepy B says, smiling sweetly. “Proceed, please.”

  “No one can take our monster,” one of the female jabberwocks hisses.

  “The exes don’t want to stray too far from the guy jabberwock, because they’re keeping him captive, because they’re incapable of letting him go and moving on, even though the reason he dumped them all, is that they didn’t want to enter into a serious relationship with him. But when he broke up with them, they still weren’t able to let him go and move on, so they keep him captive, consumed with jealousy at the very thought that anyone else might enter into a relationship with him.”

  “Yikes,” Sleepy B says. “What a bunch of psychos.”

  The Cat says, “If they’re so jealous of other girly monsters, why don’t they turn on each other and rip each others’ entrails out and wear them as headbands?”