Madness Within

05 Mischievous Mission

The set walked back to Absoleum slightly eager for his words.

"She did well," the caterpillar complimented. The twins were already headed back to the Red Kingdom, Mally was cleaning her rapier, and Neville was examining Alice's wound. It was a quite large gash that had bled for a long time. The entire left side of the girl's slip was stained red. The gash went from right under her left breast and almost to her navel. Despite its gruesome appearance, it wasn't very deep. Neville asked, "What are we going to do about her injury?"

"She'll have to go to the Hatter for a remedy," he replied while looking off in the distance. Mally sheathed her blade and looked at the smoking insect. She argued, "You do realize she can hardly stand with out tumbling over, right? She isn't going to be able to walk all the way to the Mad Hatter's tea party. Its just not possible."

"She can handle it. I recommend you go ahead and go to the party so she'll know someone when she arrives. Neville will be returning to the Red Castle after he wakes the girl up. And I, of course, will stay here."

The dormouse sighed before scampering down the hidden pathway towards the tea party. Neville looked down at the unconscious girl and gently shook her shoulder.

No response.

He shook her a bit harder.

No response.

Sighing, he moved his paw to her injured side. He quickly jabbed her in her wound.

וו×

Alice's entire body was cold. She was floating in a pitch black realm. She felt as if she was stuck in a empty void. Was she dreaming? Her senses were on high alert so she couldn't be in a dream. She heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Chaos will infect you soon enough."

"What do you mean?" She yelled into the void, looking around hopelessly for the source of the sound. Before she could get an answer, Alice felt a white hot pain in her left side. Her blue eyes snapped open and she jerked up straight, causing even more pain to shoot through her sore body. She glanced around her surroundings to see she was back in Underland again. She fell back onto the ground, moaning and groaning in pain. Absoleum coughed weakly before commenting, "I'm glad you're alive."

"Barely," she retorted, her side throbbing. The caterpillar made a noise that sounded like a laugh but more like a cough. He stated, "You are going to have to attend a strange little party to heal the wound."

"What do you mean?"

"We have an acquaintance who can help you with your injury; However, you will have to walk there on your own. Mally is waiting for you at the location."

Alice nodded. She figured out earlier that she would have to do impossible tasks in order to find out if she was the right or wrong Alice. She had no clue on what they meant by that, but she went ahead and played along with them. The land she had come across was new and exciting. It was so much different from her boring home that she actually didn't want to leave. Even though Underland was filled with danger, the surprises that awaited her with every step made the fear within her fade.

She bit her bottom lip to stifle any grunt of pain as she sat up from her spot on the ground. She realized how torn up her slip was at this point. She practically was wearing nothing. The white fabric was now stained a dark red on the left side. There were numerous slit and holes all through out the small slip. Her undergarments were starting to be revealed.

Alice eased herself onto her feet. She gestured to the fabric barely clinging to her body, "Is there anyway I could something else to wear?"

"The Red or White Kingdom perhaps. But getting there will be quite the task, and thats a job for another time."