Al in Wonderland: You've Gone Mad

Chapter 14: Everglow

It felt so cold. The darkened thoughts surrounding him, and yet he felt alright. He could hear the sobs, the crackling flame. Embers as they slowly dulled. The fire was left be, burning out in the shadow. No light left in its place.

Something felt off, it felt different. Al opened his eyes slowly, all he could hear was the silence now, small blobs of tears drifted from his eyes as he blinked. Awake, but he felt like he was asleep. It was freezing, wherever this was, he was there.

Drifting in the cold he felt himself sinking. Lower, lower. Until he felt it.

Something odd.

It brushed against his cold skin, he could barely make out what it was, but whatever it may be, it was large as he felt it pass again. Something touched him, his back, his arms, feeling his hands and feet, then a soft flow in the dark flickered and he gazed upon it.

A star in the ever dark. Al watched it for a moment and soon reached out curiously, warmth. The light gave off warmth. Still sinking, he sought to take hold of it, but it floated out of reach. Discouraged, all he could do was watch it fly away.

Until another emerged beside him.

Then another, and another.

Several small glows brightend the dark, he was stunned to see such a beautifully odd phenomenon. Their light illuminated the darkest parts of this isolating realm he found himself in.

Only, however, to discover he was not alone. Gazing at him was a gargantuan creature. Arms seperated into two more, three fingers webbed for swimming. Its face was plated with a hard white armor and its long serpent-like body was scaled in a white and a soft pink color.

Gentle tentacles swayed around it feeling the rock, the mossy stone. Schools of small fish swam by soon interested in him being there.

Swimming around him like moths to a flame he smiled amused by their small mouth gently kissing his cheeks, his arms and hands. Fingers too for the smaller ones.

The beast, however, did not approve of their meddling and swished its large handle washing them away in a soft swirl. With this, Al looked down tracing the creature's body into the depths from which it seemed to emerge, and he seemed to sink to.

He was caught in its hand, feeling he web, the fingers all new to him, and yet all so familiar. Al looked up at the massive creature that still did not speak, nor gesture or make a sound for that matter.

They watched each other for a short while, until Al opened his mouth to speak, only to find his voice was gone. His body shivered under the cold, the pressure had built too much forcing his voice to freeze with it.

Finding him to be an interesting specimen, the large creature turned shielding him from the currents of the water as it swam slowly down into the depths where the light did not follow.

Once more he could not see, yet could feel it still held him close. It was warm, a heat like he couldn't understand. Diving down, down down.

He could heard nothing, but the faint muffled sound of a train. Al, panicked, quickly looked around frantic. "The train!" But he could not see it. "It's coming, I have to warn it! But how?!" Thinking quickly he patted himself, nothing in his pockets of use, the knife nowhere to be seen.

Quickly he tapped the hand that held him and tried to scream, but no good came of it. There was no sound where he found himself.

"Please! The train! I have to stop the train! The cards-help me return them!" Al pulled the cards out of his pocket, but he creature turned too quickly and in doing so made him fumble the deck loosing the cards in the water, "Nooo!!" He couldn't grab them simply having to watch as they disappeared in the dark with a flickering sheen that fades into the emptiness. "No..."