"Hey, are you asleep?"
"Ah, yes. I'm wearing jeans, a watch, and my hair is pulled back. I must be in a REM cycle," I said dryly, opening my eyes and taking off my headphones. "What're you doing here, Dizzy?"
"Your wifi is faster than mine. I need to do my homework. Can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure. School wifi sucks. I know Evie would be delighted to see you, so go say hi when you're done. Also, I think the fast internet has something to do with Evie. It's her superpower. She has the power to make the internet faster wherever she goes. I have a superpower, too."
"Oh, cool. What is it?" Dizzy asked, sitting down in one of my oversized chairs and opening her textbook.
"Constant nausea." I pulled a can of soda out of my pocket. "Want one?"
"Yes, please."
I handed a can to her and then pulled out a second one, then a third. "I have a question that I should ask another adult, but unfortunately, I am too scared to ask another adult, so you will have suffice. If I'm feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt for no reason, should I talk to a therapist?"
"Depends. Why are you feeling guilty?"
"I just said it was for no reason. I am a coward playing the tune of a revolutionary, and that tune is the Barney theme song."
"Yeah, you should see someone. Just in case, y'know?"
"You are very wise, small one. Now, I've been awake for the last forty-eight hours for some reason, and I've heard sleep is good for you, so I'm going to try that out. Later, of course. I have things I need to do."
"Okay, be careful," Dizzy said. "When will you be back?"
"I will. I'll send you a postcard or something. Bye-bye, kiddo. Also, I'm going out the window, so don't forget to lock it."
"I won't."
"Lock it!"
"I will!"
I went skipping out into the woods, eager to get to the castle before Uma got tired of waiting for me.
Jay and Gil had already left on their tour of the world, and Mal and Ben's wedding date was growing ever closer. I planned to miss the wedding itself, show up at the dinner, and lie to everyone about being there the whole time.
Unless Uma wanted to be there, in which case I would change my plans.
I was confident in both of our abilities to murder someone in a confined space with only a second's notice, so I wasn't all that worried about asking her to take a trip with me. Well, two trips, but the second one was less important to me.
I was also confident in both of our abilities to handle psychological threats as well as physical ones, because any Isle kid worth their salt knew there was more than one way to hurt someone.
Uma was waiting for me by the bridge, although I didn't realize that until I had walked around the perimeter of the castle twice and had someone tell me where she was.
She looked up at me as I approached, and smirked at my disheveled appearance. "Took you long enough," she called. "What'd you do, go on a quest?"
"Yes, to get to you. You're my best reward. Now, time to start a new quest. Thanks for the moral support, by the way."
"No problem. You're an interesting critter. Why do you want to go back to the Isle, anyway? You fit in just fine anywhere."
That was a strange thing that no one had anticipated. Some people had decided to stay on the Isle and continue living there. Admittedly, the quality of living had improved greatly, and the air was now clean and breathable, which was a major bonus.
I started across the bridge, walking right in the middle of it to avoid even the potential of falling off into the water. Uma may have been a sea witch, but I had a hard enough time on dry land.
"My dad is still on the Isle, I think. Either that or he's missing. If I find him, I've already gotten permission from King Ben to escort him back to his rightful home in Wonderland. If he wants to leave."
"Right. Sometimes I forget that you're also from Wonderland."
"I'm really not. I was born on the Isle. Down in the dirt, just like the rest of us. Nothing better than the spawn of a mercury-drinking madman. And also my mom, but she's largely irrelevant."
Uma tilted her head slightly, and some of her braids fell off her shoulder. "Do you know who your mom is?"
"Yeah, but she's past tense, so it doesn't really matter. Wow, the Isle has really changed since I was here last. Was this courtyard always here? Wait, no, it was here the last time I was here. Where is my father? Hello, father, where did you go?"
I wandered up and down the streets of the Isle, panicking internally at the fact that I had forgotten where my own house was.
"Something wrong?" Uma asked.
"I FORGOT WHERE MY HOUSE IS," I said loudly, frantically looking around and spinning in circles.
Uma reached out and stopped me from spinning. Then she pushed me forward. "It's literally right there. You're standing right in front of it. That's your house, right there."
As if to prove her point, a bouquet of rotting flowers hit the ground right in front of me.
"Hey," I shouted.
"Ho, stranger," my dad shouted back from the second story window, after throwing a second and third bouquet at me, each one slightly less rotten than the last.
"I'll burn your house down," I threatened.
"This is your house, too."
"Not anymore. Get out here and give your favorite daughter a hug."
"You're not my favorite daughter," he shouted, and vanished from the window.
I looked over at Uma. "I told you I had a sister, right?"
"You absolutely did not tell me that."
"Well, I do. A paternal half-sister. Her name's Ally. She's somewhere in Auradon. We never really talked much. We're not close. I guess she's his favorite daughter. I'm not really surprised."
"That sucks. I never had to deal with a sibling."
"I don't recommend it."
Dad came marching out the front door and stood a few feet away from me, arms awkwardly hanging at his side. I couldn't tell if he wanted to hit me or hug me, since he'd done both a couple of times.
"Why are you here, Madison? I'm perfectly content to live on my own. I don't need you leaving your life in Auradon to come take care of me. You and Ally left. You deserve good things."
"Dad," I said cautiously, "you are aware that the barrier is gone, right?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"The barrier around the Isle. It's gone. You can leave now. I came here to ask you if you wanted to go back to Wonderland."
He blinked slowly, still processing the first statement. "The barrier...is gone?"
"Yes, Dad. You're not a prisoner anymore. You can leave now. I can take you home."
"They made the Isle my home," Dad said, almost deliriously, mostly to himself.
I shook my head and reached forward to take his hands. "No, they made it your prison. Do you remember your real home? Do you remember Wonderland? You can go back there now. No one is keeping you here. Dad? Dad, look at me."
He was even more out of it than normal. On a good day, his mental faculties were out of whack, and on bad days, he didn't even remember he had daughters.
His eyes unfocused and refocused on me. "Maddie?"
"Yeah?"
"When did you get here? Is it my unbirthday?"
I had to hold back tears. "Yeah, Dad. It's your unbirthday. And I have a present for you, but you have to come with me."
"Oh? You got me a present? You always have the best presents for me."
I began to guide him away from our home, back towards the bridge. "Yeah. I don't know how much you'll like this one, but it'll certainly get quite the reaction from you, I think."
"If you say so, darling," the Mad Hatter mumbled.
I was having a very hard time not crying.