The rain hadn't let up.
It whispered against the cave walls, soft but constant, like Wonderland was breathing. Cold air hung heavy with mist, the kind that clung to your skin and made you feel like you'd never be warm again.
I sat near the mouth of the cave, one eye on the storm outside, the other on her, Cindy.
She stirred under the coat I'd wrapped around her. Face calm, for once. No fire. No fight. Just a girl finally getting some damn rest after nearly tearing the sky apart.
Nyx was curled up on the far end of the cave, jacket over his face, snoring with no shame. Typical.
Cindy blinked awake slowly, dazed. Her eyes met mine. For a second, neither of us said a word.
"You ain't blinked in like... an hour," she mumbled, voice raspy.
I shrugged. "Didn't want you to wake up alone."
She smiled a little, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You always tryna act all stoic... but you soft, Crypt."
I raised an eyebrow. "Don't start."
She laughed under her breath, then groaned, clutching her side. Her power drain had hit hard, harder than I expected. Her body had practically been a conduit for nature itself. I was surprised Wonderland hadn't swallowed her whole.
"You almost ripped the world apart, take it easy." I asked.
"I'm tryin''," she muttered. "Still feel like a tornado ate me and spit me out though."
She sat up slowly, wrapping the coat tighter around herself. Her braids stuck to her face, soaked from sweat and rain. She looked at me, then the mouth of the cave.
"Where are we?"
"Wonderland," I said flatly. "Still."
Her eyes drifted out to the trees, twisted, colorful, wrong. "Damn. Thought maybe I dreamed it all."
I didn't say anything. Just handed her a piece of dried meat from my pack. She took it with a quiet "thanks," nibbling at it while we both stared out into the madness waiting beyond the cave.
She broke the silence first. "So what now?"
"We get out of here, before they all get back."
Her eyes flicked to mine. "You actually got a plan for that?"
"Nope."
"Good to know you're consistent."
I stood up, stretching my sore shoulder. "But sitting here's not an option. I know this is gonna sound really crazy but, it's feeding off us. It's alive. You feel it?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Like it's watching us."
"It is," came Nyx's voice, muffled from under his jacket. "Been watchin' us since we got here. Like we part of it's crazy game."
Cindy rolled her eyes. "Bout time you woke up."
"I wasn't asleep. I was ignorin' y'all," he grumbled, dragging the jacket off his head. "Y'all loud."
"Like your snoring right? Get up," I said. "We're moving."
Nyx groaned, but he stood, brushing himself off and tightening the strap on his weapon. "Where to?"
"Out. Where Wonderland don't want us to go."
We packed up quick, bare bones. Took only what we needed. The storm was thinning, but the forest beyond the cave was still twisted, colors bleeding in and out like a painting gone mad.The deeper we walked into Wonderland, the less it felt like a place made for dreaming. Twisted, trees bending like they were eavesdropping, skies too pink to be real, and a road paved with shattered teacups that crunched under our boots. Nyx walked ahead, fire in his palms, eyes darting around like he felt what I felt. That something was off. Too off.
Cindy stuck close to me, silent. The girl who usually had a smart remark ready for everything suddenly hadn't said a damn word in minutes. Her jaw was tight, and I knew that look, caution. She felt it too.
"Don't like this," Nyx muttered. "Something watchin' us."
He was right.
The wind didn't blow here, but the leaves still rustled. The shadows moved, but nothing cast 'em. Then the laughter started, quiet at first, like a whisper behind your ear. Soft and taunting.
"Welcome to the tea party," came a voice. Smooth. Mocking. Rotten with amusement.
I turned slowly, and there he was.
The Mad Hatter
He wasn't just mad. He was wrong. His coat stitched with clocks and broken spoons, top hat tilted too far to one side, eyes wide with something ancient and cracked behind them. His grin stretched across his face like it was painted on, and his skin had that pale, sickly porcelain look, like a doll left too long in the rain.
But what made my blood run cold... was who he had beside him.
Aya.
Strung up in vines of ivy and silk, her eyes glazed like she wasn't here. Like her mind had been carved open and stitched back in a way it wasn't supposed to be. Her hair hung in limp strands, and she didn't even flinch when the Hatter stroked her cheek with a gloved hand.
"Oh, she was a naughty guest," he sang, circling her like a spider admiring its catch. "Curiosity did more than kill the cat this time, you know."
"Let her go," I said. Calm. Controlled. My fists were already clenched. "Now."
The Hatter tilted his head. "Oh, but she's my centerpiece. You wouldn't crash a party without tasting the cake, would you?"
Nyx stepped forward, flames already licking up his forearms. "You don't look like much for a storybook legend."
The Hatter hopped off the table with a slow clap, each step echoing like a joke. "Oh, I'm much more fun in person. You're just in time for tea. Or blood. Whichever you prefer."
I reached for my blade, but Nyx didn't wait. "I'll take this one," he muttered, his voice lower than usual, almost dangerous. "Been needing to burn off some steam.Yall get the crazy girl"
The Hatter whistled. "Oh! Hades, the firestarter! Delightful. Let's make this a hot mess, shall we?"
The shadows behind him squirmed. His goons came crawling out, tall and crooked, wearing tea kettles as helmets, faces hidden behind cracked porcelain masks. One of them jerked its head back and let out a mechanical screech, and all hell broke loose.
Nyx didn't hesitate. He launched himself into them, both fists blazing with fire. He moved like fury in motion, graceful, fast, and violent. A sweep of his leg knocked one down, and a blast of heat turned another to ash before it hit the ground. His eyes blazed orange, and he wore that cocky grin like armor.
"Thought y'all liked warm drinks," he shouted, kicking a tea pot-head across the field.
The Hatter clapped wildly, laughing like a child watching fireworks. "Oh, bravo! Let's see how long you last before your flames go out."
I moved fast, slashing down one of the masked creeps that tried to slip through toward Cindy. I kept one eye on her, the other on Aya, who still hadn't moved. Still not right.
Nyx was tearing through them, but it wasn't easy, these weren't normal enemies. Every time he burned one, it came back wronger. Melted parts forming new arms, tea poured from their mouths like blood. It was Wonderland's kind of nightmare: no rules, no mercy, no end.
Still, Nyx held his own. A giant lumbered at him with iron fists, and Nyx ducked low, sending a jet of flame right up into its chest. The metal cracked, exploded, and shards scattered like knives.
And that's when the Hatter turned toward her, Cindy, eyes narrowing like he'd just found a new game.
"Well now," he purred, "what a pretty little storm."
Cindy didn't flinch.
"Try me," she said, voice like steel under silk.
But Nyx beat him to it. With a roar and a blast of fire so hot it split the ground, he charged again, straight for the Hatter himself.
"Party's over," Nyx growled.
And the real fight began.
"Can you even handle me, little flame?" The Mad Hatter's voice was sickeningly sweet, but there was something terrifying underneath it. His twisted magic surged like a storm, he sent an entire wave of disorienting illusions toward Nyx, but Nyx's flame cut through it, a blazing arc that pushed the Hatter back a step.
"You got some more dawg you makin' me bored now?" Nyx smirked, his fire turning white-hot as it swirled around him like a cloak. "I got nothing but time."
The Hatter grinned, raising his hands, pulling his tricks out like cards from a deck. " Always, Boy. Always."
But Nyx didn't flinch. He dodged another distorted blast, coming in close enough to land a punch right in the Hatter's chest, sending him skidding across the floor. The Mad Hatter laughed again, but there was a noticeable shift now. He was starting to realize this wasn't a game he could control.
"You makin' this too easy," Nyx growled, flames flickering around his fists. "You better fight like you mean it if you know what's good for you, you're not gonna like the ending I got for you."
The Mad Hatter's smile twisted, like he was about to unleash something even darker. I could feel it, the pressure in the air, the intense, almost suffocating feeling that told me the Mad Hatter was about to flip everything upside down.
The world around us trembled as the Mad Hatter snapped his fingers. One moment, Wonderland seemed like a twisted, dark dream, the next, it was warping in front of us, turning upside down. The ground flipped, the sky split open like a wound, and the trees? They bled shadows that reached for us like claws.
"Welcome to my world," the Hatter sneered, a manic gleam in his eyes. "Let's see how long you last."
I watched, grinding my teeth. The rain had stopped, but the air was thick with dread, like something hungry was about to pounce.
Nyx stepped forward, his eyes glowing like molten fire, calm as ever despite the chaos unfolding around us. "Bring it homeboy!," he said, his voice smooth, dark, and filled with a hint of something dangerous.
Before the Hatter could snap again, Nyx raised his hand, his fire powers licking the air with a deadly promise. A ball of flame swirled in his palm, lighting the twisted path that now sprawled beneath our feet, the once-familiar terrain of Wonderland now a distorted nightmare.
But the Hatter wasn't intimidated. His grin stretched wide, and with another snap, the world quaked. Trees came to life, their branches turning into arms, vines snaking toward us like serpents, their leaves sharp like blades. Flowers bloomed with mouths that opened wide, ready to swallow us whole.
Nyx barely flinched.
"Nice tricks," he said, unfazed, as he launched the flame at one of the monstrous trees. It exploded into a thousand sparks, but the Hatter just laughed, twisting the air with a flick of his wrist.
"You're missing the point," the Hatter taunted, and the air seemed to vibrate with madness. "It's not about fighting me. It's about surviving this."
The ground under our feet cracked open, revealing deep, bottomless pits, and the once-friendly creatures of Wonderland, rabbits, butterflies, and strange things in between, turned into snarling beasts, their eyes wild with hunger. The whole place was a living, breathing nightmare, warped by the Hatter's insane power.
Nyx's fire grew, his body glowing with an almost unnatural heat as he stood firm. "Well shit," he said, voice low and dangerous. "Now we talkin'!."
And with that, the world seemed to pause for a second. It was like everything held its breath. Nyx summoned a blast of fire that shot through the air like a comet, striking the twisted sky above us. The world around us screamed as the fire collided with the illusions the Hatter had spun, ripping through them like paper.
But the Hatter was faster than I expected. He dodged, laughing, spinning in a maddened dance, and the world around us continued to twist, faster, harder, more chaotic.
"Fool!" The Hatter's voice was a razor-sharp edge now, his eyes glowing with something even more dangerous than insanity. "You can't fight what you can't see!"
The world began to melt into a kaleidoscope of images, faces of people who weren't there, places we didn't recognize. Every time Nyx struck, the world shifted, the fire burning into the wrong places, as if the entire landscape was mocking him, pulling him further into its madness.
But Nyx didn't lose his calm.
"Not the first time I've had to fight against something that's not real," he said, gritting his teeth. Then, with a roar, his power surged, breaking through the illusionary walls of Wonderland as if they were nothing more than fragile glass.
The Hatter's eyes narrowed, his smirk turning into a snarl. He raised his arms, and the Wonderland nightmare launched itself at us, creatures, trees, the ground itself, all coming at us at once, an army of madness.
But Nyx's fire only burned brighter.
"You wanted a fight?" Nyx whispered to the Hatter, "You got one."
The blast of fire that followed was enough to make the whole world shudder. The air crackled, the ground shook as flames ripped through Wonderland, and I could feel the heat, the pressure, the force of it all, even from where I stood.
The Hatter was forced back, his illusions cracking, bending, warping in response to Nyx's relentless power.
The Hatter grinned, his twisted laughter echoing through the chaos, as he spun faster, faster, pulling Wonderland with him like a puppeteer. His eyes gleamed with madness, hands weaving illusions that struck at us from all angles. He was in control again, pulling strings, making the world around us turn upside down with a sickening delight.
"You think you've won, boy?" The Hatter's voice was dripping with mockery, his tone sweet like poison. "This is Wonderland. Nothing is real. Not even you. Or Is it?"
Nyx stood firm, but I could see the strain starting to show. His flames flickered in the warped air, the intensity of the Hatter's illusions throwing him off balance. For a second, I saw him hesitate, just a second. And that's when the Hatter struck.
A burst of shadow tore through the air, wrapping around Nyx like a chain. The Hatter's twisted laughter grew louder as he slammed Nyx to the ground, the illusions tightening their grip. The flames sputtered, flickering, fighting to stay alive in a world that was now bent on smothering them.
"Is this your fire?" The Hatter sneered, his voice cold now, victorious. "A candle in the cold dark."
Nyx's body writhed beneath the weight of the illusions, the fire around him weakening, his control slipping. He gritted his teeth, struggling to break free, but the madness pressed down harder.
And that's when the Hatter's hand shot forward, claws twisting into the air like a serpent's strike. He aimed for Nyx's throat, eyes burning with the certainty of his win. It was all over. Nyx was finished. It wrapped around his neck, choking the life out of him.
Then, I saw it, Aya, still hanging, still locked in the nightmare's grip. I couldn't let her be swallowed up by this madness. Not after everything. Aya once Alice, ruled this realm, this was her turf, meaning wonderland was hers to control. The vine around her was draining her of that control, and giving it to....I moved. Fast. Every step was a blur of speed as I cut through the hellscape around me, ignoring the chaos. The ground cracked open beneath me, but I jumped, bounced off the edge of a splitting tree trunk, my eyes locked on Aya's still form.
The Hatter's laughter continued, but I didn't hear it. The world around me warped, the shadows reaching for me, trying to pull me down, but I didn't stop. I was done being the observer, the one caught in the web.
I reached Aya, and with one clean slice of my blade, I severed the vines binding her mind, her body dropping into my arms like a weightless thing. Her head lolled to the side, eyes still vacant, lost in Wonderland's grip.
"Aya," I whispered, shaking her lightly, but there was no response. Her soul had been hollowed out, and only a shell of her remained.
The Hatter's roar echoed in my ears, like the crack of thunder, his madness seeping into every inch of the air.
"How dare you?!!" His voice, sickly sweet, called out from the twisted world around us. "She's mine, just like everything else in Wonderland!"
The ground trembled beneath me, the world around us warping more, stretching out like a dream with no end. But I wasn't afraid. Not anymore.
I took a deep breath, my blade poised at Aya's neck, ready to cut through the madness itself if I had to.
"This world isn't yours you crazy bitch it's hers, Surrender , or I'll kill her!" I growled, my voice low, filled with the rage of everything he'd taken from us.
The Hatter.
His grin had faltered just for a second as he laid eyes on me, realizing I had found the source of his power. He looked at me, just long enough for me to see it. He was getting desperate. And that was all I needed to know.
I turned to Nyx, his body still writhing, trapped by the illusions that were now weakening. His fire was weak, but not dead. He wasn't overtaken, he was fighting. I could feel it. He was just waiting for his moment, just like back in the cave under that damn jacket. He needed the noise to calm down.
"Nyx!" I shouted. "Now!"
With one last burst of fire, Nyx's body exploded into a blaze, the heat so intense it singed the very air. The illusions faltered, shattered like glass under the force of his power.
The Hatter snarled, eyes burning with rage as he tried to summon more madness, but Nyx's flames broke through everything, consuming the illusions with an unforgiving fire.
The Hatter's eyes shook with fear.
This was it.
Nyx's flames roared as they engulfed Wonderland's warped landscape, burning away the madness. The Hatter's illusions crumbled, his control slipping as his world dissolved into nothing.
I didn't give him a chance to recover.
With Aya still in my arms, I charged forward. The Hatter turned, a flicker of fear in his eyes. "No, this can't be, "
I lunged, blade aimed straight for him. The Hatter tried to raise a hand, his twisted magic crackling in the air, but it was too late.
With one swift motion, my blade cut through the air and through him, right down the center. His body jerked, a flicker of panic in his eyes before his form collapsed into nothing but shadows and dust.
The laughter stopped. Then silence. My favorite part. Wasn't so fuckin' funny now was it?
And Wonderland, his twisted, nightmarish creation, crumbled, returning the world to normal.
I stood over the remnants of the Mad Hatter, the air still heavy with the scent of his burned and charred ass.
Yeah, The nightmare was over.
The air was thick with smoke and silence.
The Mad Hatter lay twisted among the ashes, his once-slick grin now burned into a frozen mask of disbelief. His body crackled with the last remnants of magic, fading like dying embers, until finally, he was still.
Nyx stood over him, panting lightly, flames simmering down across his arms. "Told you," he muttered, nudging the Hatter's hat with his foot. "But you had to fuck around and found out."
I stepped back into the clearing, dragging my blade through the dirt as I came up beside him still carrying Aya. "You good?"
Nyx rolled his neck, smirk returning like it never left. "Man, I'm beautiful."
Behind us, the corrupted Wonderland was calm. The sky stopped bleeding. The trees froze mid-screech. Whatever hold the Hatter had over this place, it broke with him.
"Daaaang," Cindy said, hands on her hips, stepping over a twitching teacup soldier as she made her way to us. "Y'all really wrecked him, huh?"
Nyx gave her a wink, still catching his breath. "Had to show out a little."
"Mmhmm," she grinned, nudging him with her shoulder. Then she turned to me and smiled wide, her eyes soft. "You too, Crypt. That blade was sangin' back there."
I nodded once, but my focus was locked on one thing.
Aya.
She was still in my arms. Her body was warm, barely, heartbeat flickering, breath shallow.
"Wake up already," I muttered. "Don't you dare check out on me."
Her fingers twitched, then her eyes fluttered open, cloudy at first, then sharp. She blinked a few times, breath hitching.
"Charming?" she rasped.
"Yeah," I said, voice low. "It's over."
But her face didn't soften. It hardened.
Her fists clenched.
And then, crack, my cheek lit up red.
She'd slapped me.
Hard.
I didn't flinch. Just stared at her.
"How dare you touch mel," she hissed, eyes blazing. "After what you did? After what you were?"
"Aya, I know what I did," I said, cutting her off. "But if it weren't for us, I'm sure your mind would have been trapped inside him forever."
She stared at me, chest heaving. "You think saving me from him makes up for that?"
"No," I said with a frown as I dropped her. "But You best be thankful."
I walked a distance away. The silence stretched, her glare drilling through me.
"What happened anyway," Nyx asked, trying to break the ice. "I thought yall was on yall way out?"
She looked away, breathing in hard. "The Hatter shot my airship down," she whispered, the fire in her dimming. "We were escaping. Thought we made it. Then boom, he was there. Killed my men before I could blink. I couldn't save them. I couldn't even, " her voice cracked.
Cindy stepped closer, softening. "I'm sorry. At least now you safe."
Aya's jaw clenched as she glared at Crypt's back. "Safe means nothing if the world's still broken."
Nyx knelt beside her. "Then help us fix it."
Her eyes flicked to him, still suspicious. "What?"
He nodded. "You heard me."
I stayed quiet, letting him speak.
"We're after Father Winter and The Royals ourselves. We just wondered here I guess by fate," Nyx said, voice low and serious. "We got our scars too, Alice. We know what they took. You got a fire in you, I wanna see you use it."
She eyed him. Then me. Then Cindy.
Cindy crossed her arms, brow raised. "Look, I don't trust easy either, especially not this pretty boy who used to wear crowns and kiss babies for the camera. But, honestly, he just ain't that dude no more. And me? I'm real. I would tell you if he fucked up trust me. Roll with us, don't roll alone, that's how you get picked off."
Aya hesitated.
Her gaze lingered on me. Pain and fury still behind it. But something else too.
Recognition.
This war was the same war we were all bleeding in.
She stood slowly, wobbly but upright. "If I join," she said, tone sharp, "it's not for you." She pointed at me. "It's for them and the ones I lost. The ones who didn't make it, because of you."
I nodded once. "We're on the same page."
Nyx grinned, flicking a spark off his fingers. "That's what I'm talkin' about."
Cindy smirked. "Okaaaayyy! We got us a lil crew now."
Aya gave a half-smirk, still worn but rising. "Don't get cute. I'm still deciding if I like y'all."
"Which is fine," I said, sliding my blade back in place. "As long as you swing when it counts."
She looked at me again. "One wrong move, Charming... and I'll gut you myself."
I didn't doubt her.
And for once, the threat felt like home.
We stood together.
Enemies turned allies.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBUOEwOn1C
