Eryn was blinded by the light. Then, she began to hear voices.
"—waking up!"
"—more benzodiazepine!"
"My Hornets—!" shouted the Red Queen.
I'm back. She thought and struggled to wake up more. The contraption to keep her tongue in place had been removed for some reason. Then she realized she was still strapped to the bed. She tugged at the rope, but it was too tight.
Of course, it was easier said than done. She scowled.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light. People screamed, and Eryn shut her eyes tight. Footsteps scurried around her frantically.
"Stop them!" Treeza shouted.
"Hi," came a little boy's voice next to her. Then on both wrists, she felt a light touch of teeth. It was Duxim on one side and Rugisque on another as hare and mouse, and they were chewing away at the rope.
"You two!" She blinked. "Where have you been, Rugisque?" She had not seen him in the dungeon.
"Oh, hiding around." Rugisque grinned at her and continued to work on the rope. "I got everyone out."
"Yeah, he's a hero."
"Duxim, you can be one, too," Rugisque said.
"Keep chewing, you two."
"Quartz?" Eryn turned her head around as best as she could. It was hard to see anything taller than Duxim and Rugisque as the bright light lingered just above their heads.
"They took all our weapons, but they didn't take our sanity."
Sisha was there, too. But what about Ace? The grip around her wrist weakened and both sides snapped off. With a groggy head, Eryn slowly sat up and squinted her eyes against the bright light. A man in a red suit was crouching towards her. He was a short man with brown hair and sideburns.
"The chemicals will still affect you. Here, I'll carry you," he said, his voice low. Eryn couldn't imagine how he was going to manage when his entire body began to shape shift and in a burst of rose petals there sat, ready to ride, a cat beast as big as a car with auburn fur and two pairs of ears.
"Get on," the cat beast growled, and Eryn didn't even hesitate. She grabbed his fur and got on top. When he rose to his full height, she had to practically lie down on him so as not to be blinded by the light. Her head was still dizzy and the spots where she'd been shot began to tingle as the numbness wore off.
"This way." Quartz and Sisha were crouching out of the domed garden, keeping low as the Jabberwocky Hornets scampered around with their visions obscured by the light. The cat beast man followed with Duxim and Rugisque behind.
"I am Frith. Five of Hearts," the cat beast introduced himself as they left the dome. As soon as they cleared the building, there was a loud explosion and glass shattered everywhere.
Up ahead, an orange, evening sun was low on the horizon in a ripple of Underland and within that, was a vast wasteland with gnarly trees growing every which way except up. A battle was in the midst. Clean red suits were the Jabberwocky's army. Torn red suits, white blouses, and some men without shirts were the real Hornets. But Eryn couldn't see him anywhere.
"Where's Ace?" She looked at Quartz and then Sisha but neither of them said anything. Their silence could mean a gazillion of things. She didn't want to think about the 'what if' and kept the hope in her heart that he was alive and okay.
He seemed fine, but what if...? Eryn bit her lip in worry.
"I need to let you off," Frith called to her. Eryn hopped off and he bowed his head then galloped off to join the battle, jumping head in with claws unsheathed.
Quartz squinted. "We need go to the Jabberwocky, the Red Queen, an—"
"I have Alyce," Eryn said to them. Quartz blinked and Sisha cocked her head.
"We can destroy the Jabberwocky together," Eryn said and noticed a vague white of Alyce coming into existence standing next to her with her lips pressed together in a tight line. But it didn't seem like Quartz or Sisha could see her.
"Suddenly you can use the alyce?" Quartz eyed her suspiciously. "I don't believe—"
"Let's trust her," Sisha firmly said. "I will."
Quartz sighed loudly and rubbed his face. "Alright. The rose garden. I saw her go there. The Red Queen, I saw her, I mean."
"I can smell her." Duxim sniffed the air and took Eryn's hand. Rugisque took her other one. As Eryn was about to go, Quartz and Sisha went off for the battle instead.
"Wait, you're going that way?" she called but they didn't even turn around. Eryn rolled her eyes. They could have told her their plan. "Well, Duxim, Rugisque, I guess it's just us."
Duxim and Rugisque looked up at her expectantly, waiting for the signal to go when Eryn had an idea. They would tell her, wouldn't they?
"Do you know where Ace is?"
Duxim shuffled the ground. "I'm not supposed to tell you."
"Please?" Eryn said, "I just need to know. I'm really worried about him."
"Well," Duxim looked away and bit his lip. "He went to get reenforcements."
Reinforcements? Eryn couldn't think of who was left sane here. "Who?"
"Scorpions."
He had gone to the White Queen's castle alone and with those injuries and outnumbered, was he insane? And wasn't the White Queen consumed by the Jabberwocky? It was like he was presenting himself on a platter asking the Jabberwocky to eat him up. She had seen the beast consume Clue.
Eryn stared out at the battlefield where Hornets fought Hornets. Swords clanked, magic flew about, and she had to look away when a Jabberwocky Hornet sliced through the body of the sane Hornet. She needed to go with Alyce and destroy the Jabberwocky, but she also couldn't get it out of her mind that Ace might be in trouble. What if he got had again?
"We need to go help him."
"He said you might say that." Duxim pouted. "That's why I wasn't supposed to tell you. He said you need to get rid of the Red Queen Jabberwocky. That's the core. If you do, this will all stop. And if bad Hornets are still fighting, Scorpions will be had-not, and we'll be saved."
But her mind was made up. She couldn't lose Ace. Not again when she almost did. "The White Queen's castle is close, right?"
Duxim nodded without looking at her. "Yeah, but—"
"So, we'll just go take a look and come right back," Eryn said, but Duxim hesitated and Rugisque sat down to scratch at the groundsky with his finger.
He pursed his lips. "But he said you should—"
"Eryn," Alyce whispered next to her, "look." A transparent finger pointed up ahead. There was the White Queen's ice castle letting off steam and she caught the distinct red coat of a flying Hornet shooting flames at the structure. A yellow sparking sphere captured him, and he froze in the air.
As he hung above the castle, an ominous black cloud gathered in the sky above and Eryn felt the familiar tingle of the Jabberwocky.
"Ace!" Eryn let go of Duxim's paw and ran off in the direction of the castle, but her legs wobbled, and she fell.
Spitting leaves and dirt, she gripped the ground. Her heart pounded and her eyes fixated on Ace, she stood again and fell again as the sedatives still affected her. Stumbling over rough terrain, bursting into a tangled forest with jutting roots that tripped her, Eryn didn't stop. She couldn't stop until she got to Ace. She had Alyce. They could keep him away from the Jabberwocky.
When she fell again, she stayed on the ground, gasping for breath and coughing. Her mind reeling with horrific images of the Jabberwocky eating Ace, Eryn finally glanced up.
Her jaw dropped at the scene before her. This was where the snow maze should have been, but it was all gone, and the ground was muddy and there were pools of black sludge. There was no more ice castle except for parts of the castle not made of ice. It was like a metal skeleton and the ominous cloud nor Ace were anywhere to be found.
"What the frick?" She breathed out. Staggering forward she got her foot caught in mud and backed away to drier land. Behind, Duxim called her, and she turned around. She had seen Ace and the Jabberwocky. Had that all been fake? Was she finally getting had from being here for too long?
"I thought I saw..." She glanced at Alyce who seemed just as confused. They had both seen him. What was going on?
Duxim passed Rugisque as he ran towards her when Rugisque squeaked, "Look out!"
Just as she turned her head, there was a deafening sound.
"Eryn!"
BANG went a gun.
Violently, shoved to the side, Eryn fell to ground, splashing in the mud. There was another splash nearby. Time seemed to slow. The little boy with the hare ears was laying on the ground with his hat next to him. She could hear Rugisque screaming, "Duxim!" somewhere in the distance.
Her world froze. Her mind went blank. "D-Duxim," she could only whisper. Slipping, falling, she hurried to him. Her hands were shaking as she touched his body. Blood pooled around him. He was shot in the chest. He lifted his head with a grunt and smiled.
"I saved Eryn and Alyce." His eyes distinctly acknowledging the worried woman who appeared next to her.
"You knew." The woman's voice was barely a whisper.
"Always." His eyelids fluttered. "I knew." He gasped.
Eryn took his paw and squeezed. "Duxim, you'll be okay, we'll—"
"It's okay." He blinked his eyes. "It's okay Eryn. I knew." His breathing quickened, and he coughed. Blood dribbled down his chin.
"I am the other one who will...who will make the Supreme Future." He gasped for breath. "It was meant to be. I did it, Eryn. I did it. I'm a hero, aren't I?" He gave a thin smile. With a tiny gasp, his eyes fluttered closed.
"Duxim?" Eryn whispered as his body went limp. "Duxim, please." Tears fell from her eyes onto his small body. With a soft hush, he began to shrink until in her arms was the March Hare that he always was. She lay on a hand on his warm body.
"Duxim, wake up, please." Eryn shook him, spluttering sobs.
"He's gone." Alyce lay a hand on her shoulder. "The brave soul."
Eryn knew he was dead, but it didn't sink in, and she didn't want to believe it. Death wasn't long and dramatic like movies played them out to be sometimes. It was quick and sudden, and it left you with no words but only shock and sorrow.
Rugisque came to lay a paw on his head. "My bestest friend." His bottom lip trembled, and tears streamed down his face. "D-Don't leave me!" he wailed. Eryn reached out and hugged him and together they mourned Duxim's death. The wind howled around them as if in lament.
"You are a hero," she sobbed, wishing he would wake up. "Always."
"Scorpions! Aim!" came a command. White suits surrounded them with the clank of swordsmen and the clatter of archers. How insensitive they were. Couldn't they give them a moment of peace to grieve?
"Well now, if it isn't the princess come to rescue her prince." A Scorpion wearing a silvery Venetian mask came up to the front line. "I knew that would work."
"A splendid illusion, sir." A woman Scorpion said.
"Thank you, Terry. What shall we do with the alyce now that we have it? Give her to the Jabberwocky and gain eternal power?"
The Scorpions shouted and cheered. The lead one cracked a sinister smile. "Cease the girl, dispose of the others, just as we did with the prince."
"Yes, Captain!" the Scorpions said in unison.
"I won't let you!" Rugisque jumped in front, wiping tears from his eyes at the same time Eryn shouted, "What have you done with Ace?"
The Scorpion lifted his mask. A yellow-haired man with sunken cheeks and wild green eyes glared at her. "Disposed of him, of course."
Eryn was too stunned to say anything. She sat there with Duxim's body in her lap as the Scorpion Captain came towards her with a ball of electricity growing in his palm. Eryn grabbed Rugisque, pulling him toward her. But then the sounds of the battle reached her ears and she realized she couldn't save everyone.
"This is the end," the Scorpion sneered and raised his hand to strike. Eryn gritted her teeth and put herself over Rugisque to protect his little body and braced herself for whatever may come.
"Get away from them!"
They all looked up at the sound of the roaring voice, but there was no one there. A bursting ring of fire suddenly surrounded them growing up to form a wall, blocking the Scorpions out. The Scorpion Captain was thrown out of the fire ring. Eryn stared at the fire wall, and somehow her numb mind still made a small joke about security systems, but she could not smile.
"Eryn."
At the sound of Ace's voice, Eryn felt relief well over her. When she glanced up, her jaw dropped for the second time that day. There flew Ace with wings made of flames and behind him a beautiful azure and orange phoenix faded into existence until it overlapped with his body.
"Astraeus," Alyce gasped. "The galaxy phoenix?"
"Wha...?" Eryn stared in awe at this beautiful creature that was Ace. He sang out a beautiful high note and the fire around them gradually turned into a deep blue. Alyce reached out to the flames and closed her eyes.
When she touched the flames, a tingling energy traveled from Eryn's body into Alyce's and burst out as glowing orange triangles that hit every single Scorpion.
They shouted and writhed about on the ground. Some of them tried to stab their own throats, but something held them back. A black cloud escaped them one by one letting out a shriek. Those bits and pieces of the Jabberwocky merged together in one dark cloud and sped away. The Scorpions were left groaning awake. Alyce went to their sides and touched their wounds, healing them, but they didn't seem to be able to see her well if at all.
A flurry of pink feathers fell on her as a human Copteri with large flamingo wings landed on the ground behind them. His frost put the fire out.
"Rugisque," He gave a soft smile, "let's take Duxim to the Hatter."
Still in shock and confusion what she had seen, Eryn handed Duxim's body to Copteri and Rugisque took the hat. He climbed up on Copteri's back and they flew away without another word. Eryn stood on shaking legs in a state of daze. The sensation of the Jabberwocky or the strange energy that Alyce used was gone.
"Eryn," Ace called, and the phoenix faded away along with the fiery wings. He landed on the ground in full uniform minus the jacket. His sword hung in its sheath from his belt. Any scratch or bruise he had was healed.
"You're okay?" She staggered to him and fell in his arms, feeling his warmth and snuggling in his embrace. She didn't want to think about all that happened. What mattered right now was that he was here alive and well.
When he released her and she faced him, Eryn didn't think twice. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. "I thought I had lost you, you bee!" She let the tears flow freely.
Although flames danced across his shoulders, and his stunned face grew redder by the second, he lifted her chin up and kissed her softly. Eryn closed her eyes and lost herself in a moment of peace.
At last, she pulled apart, suddenly acutely aware that Alyce was standing there, waiting for her, and the Scorpions were just waking up, but many were still lying about unconscious.
"We need to go back," Eryn said, wiping her tears. "For Clue, for Duxim," she lowered her gaze, thinking about all the others that may have already been lost. A new feeling of determination swelled in her chest. Of course, she was scared of the unknown. What will she even find? She held her shaking hands close to her chest knowing that she simply had to believe, to trust, and to love.
When she raised her head, her fear subsided.
"Alyce and I have a Jabberwocky to defeat," she said, making a fist. Ace blinked.
"Alyce?" His eyes wandered to spot where Alyce stood. A flicker of recognition passed over his face and he gave a nod. Eryn couldn't tell if Ace had seen her or not.
"I'll fly you there. Where to?"
"The Red Queen's castle."
"Got it." Ace picked her up. "You sound like you have everything under control now." He smirked.
She grinned. "The nonsense is finally making sense to me."